Are we Free or Determined
In This Chapter we will analyze the human person and attempt to
understand why and how it is that human beings act?


Agent: A person who acts freely and
knowingly and is self-directed.
At the heart of ethics is the belief that Humans
are free to choose…in this chapter we will
examine those who believe this and those who
believe we might to some extent be determined
by different Biological and/or Social Forces.



Analytic Philosophy: For anything to have
value it must be empirically verifiable.
He argues against Analytic Philosophy stating
that Human Intention/Free Will is not
necessarily something that is measurable but is
real.
“When I raise my arm, my arm goes up”

Wittgenstein believes that human intention is
left over when analyzing his statement. L.W.
contends that not everything that has value
about the human person is empirically
verifiable.




As Catholics we believe that we are Free.
St. Augustine states “We will when we will,
but it is God that allows us the power to act”
God influences but does not control us. We call
this Providence.
Augustine wrote on Freedom during the time
of the Pelagians who believed Humanity was
fully free and the Manicheans who denied any
type of freedom whatsoever.





We attempt to define Freedom in the Catechism of
the Catholic Church (CCC)
CCC 1744: Freedom is the power to act or not to
act we are most fully free when our actions are
directed toward the Good (God)
CCC1745: Freedom as a result makes us
responsible and accountable for what we do.
CCC1761: One may not do evil so that good may
result from it.
CCC1754: Circumstances contribute to making an
immoral act more severe (Aggravate) or Less
Severe (Mitigate)

We can organize Determinists into three
categories: Scientific/Social/Religious.
G.E Moore




G.E Moore in his work “Principia Ethica”
discusses his theory of Naturalism.
Naturalism sees the universe as a unified
system operating according to the Laws of
cause and effect.
Naturalism attempts to reduce human
behavior to Biological\Physical causes.
The Human Being is a complex series of cause
and effect.



An example of naturalism is “The Human
Genome Project”.
If Naturalism is true then Ethics would belong
in the study of Biology.
If Naturalism is true then according to Ted
Peters “Human culture would be on a leash, a
short leash controlled by a Genetic Agenda”




If Human Behaviour is reducible then surely
we can replicate it. (A.I)
Turing was the first to conceive of intelligent
Machines.
McCarthy coined the term A.I
Deep Blue the IBM supercomputer was the first
example of A.I when it defeated reigning world
Chess Champion Gary Kasparov (Watson is
IBM’S Latest Version of a Supercomputer)



Others who believed this would be Huxley
who stated “The Brain is a Machine Like
everything else”
Concepts such as teleportation would illustrate
the fact that humans can be reduced and then
re-configured.
Philosophers such as Descartes, Aristotle and
Plato would believe that there is a distinction
between the mind and the brain.
Freud, Adler, Jung and Rank Make up the
Vienna Psychological Society.
So, did you get along vith
your muzzer?



1.
2.
Social Determinism believes that Human
Behaviour is a result of a multitude of Social
Causes.
Freud's “Theory of the Unconscious”
Freud believed that we are ruled by 2 instincts.
Eros: Life instinct (pleasure seeking)
Thanatos: Death Instinct (pain avoiding)
John Calvin and The Puritan Tradition


John Calvin believed that Human Beings do
not “earn” their Salvation. Calvin believed that
God had already chosen those who would be
saved. He called this Doctrine “PreDestination”
The Puritan tradition believed that humanity
was so depraved that we all deserved Hell.
And that if we are saved it is all because of
God’s Grace.


Obviously we are moving forward with the
belief that we are free and therefore
accountable for what we do. (If we didn’t
believe in freedom the course would end now)
Also we do understand that we definitely are
influenced by genetic/social factors but that we
do possess “Free Will”


Using 5 examples from the movie as your
evidence compose an essay which proves the
position that Gattaca either accepts or rejects
the theory of “Naturalism”. (you must choose
one position not both)
Using 5 examples from your own worldview
do you accept or reject the theory of
“Naturalism”?


Our Conscience is what we use to make the
decisions we make 
Let’s examine some factors that shape and form
our conscience (The Church is one of those
factors and the remainder of the course will
focus on how the Church shaped and formed
its Conscience as an institution through a
historical context, then we will examine how
we apply that teaching)
1.The Importance of Others
 “Am I my brothers Keeper?” Genesis
 In the West we see others as obstacle
 Sartre saw others as “My Hell”
 Martin Niemoeller in his work “First they came for
the Communists” Sees all of us linked.

Our Direction affects our decisions.
Charles Taylor believes there is a link between
identity and moral stance.

Fr. Ron Rolheiser “Meaning and Happiness…”






Our language impacts how we see the world
since we decode our experience using
language.
Charles Taylor believes; to answer the
question Who am I you must examine 3
Things:
1. Community in which you were born
2. The Language you Speak
3. By Whom you were raised



Character means how our actions over time
become fixed in our nature
“Plant an action…….
Moral Fibre: Is like muscle fibre the more you
exercise it the stronger it becomes



All of the previous affect conscience and your
conscience according to our faith is summed up
in CCC 1776/1777/1778
Thomas More is an important example of how
our Conscience impacts our person!
“The Kings servant but Gods first”





Your Conscience develops as you mature
Your Conscience develops as you follow norms
Your Conscience helps you deal with your
moral failure
Your Conscience develops as you participate in
the life of the Church
Your Conscience develops as you grow in
humility (I don’t know everything)






Rationalization
Trivialization
Misinformation
Means to an End
Ends justify the immoral means
Difficult to reason