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Free Will and Determinism: Theory and Practice in Psychology

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Free Will and Determinism: Theory and Practice in Psychology Please note The text in this file has been automatically extracted and may contain minor errors. For the original version please consult the paper copy held in the Swinburne Library. - FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM: THEORY AND PRACTICE IN PSYCHOLOGY Keith Maxwell Purdie B. A., B. D., Grad. Dip. App. Psych. Submitted for the degree of ~octorof Philosophy November, 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ! Table of contents '1 List of tables vii List of figures viii Abstract XI Declaration xi ! Acknowledgements xii , PART ONE 1. The importance of the issue 1.1 Conceptual issue - empirical discipline 1 1.2 Initial definitions of key terms Natural and Non Natural Determinism Metaphysical and Metl~odologicalDeterminism Hard Determinism Soft Determinism Near Determinism Non-Rigid Determinism "Superordinate" Determinism Freedom as a "Necessary Fiction" Freedom as an Assumption Active Self Determination Indeterminism Libertarianism Libertarianism and Determinism Causation The Four Causes of Aristotle 1.3 The significance of fieedom. Freedom and Determinism: Opposing views of Human Life Moral Responsibility Agency and Autonomy Novelty . Meaning Dignity Conclusion 1 -4 The position I intend to advocate Overall Position Specific Claims 2. Positions in the debate 2.1 Approaches to the issue 2.2 Criticisms of hard determinism 2.3 Limiting the scope of determinism to accommodate freedom Rene Descartes William James 2.4 Redefining freedom to accommodate determinism Soft determinism An evaluation of soft determinism 2.5 Redefining determinism to accommodate fi-eedom. Blanshard's proposal An evaluation of Blanshard's approach 2.6 Challenging the assumptions underlying the debate Reasons as causes Non-linear time Dialectical thinking 2.7 Conclusions 3. Kant 3.1 The place of Kant 3.2 The major elements of the Kantian approach The relationship between mind and objects . Knowledge and reality The antinomies of pure reason Practical reason The two standpoints Freedom as the basis for all reasoning The faculty of judgment A Kantian approach and libertarian concerns The independence of the two standpoints 100 3.3 The value to psychology of a Kantian approach 101 101 Affirms the validity of freedom and determinism I Enables freedom and determinism to be fully and coherently articulated 102 ; i Explains the paradox and provides an intellectual warrant for both sides 103 Encourages a rigorous natural science approach to psychology 104 * Provides a justification for inquiry which assumes freedom 105 : Avoids an ontological dualism 105 ! 3.4 Conclusions PART TWO 4. Psychological theory 108 4.1 Introduction: 108 ; Basis for selection of theorists 108 i I Claims to be established 108 4.2 The first two paradigms: Psychology as a deterministic science 109 i Sigmund Freud 110 B. F. Skinner 118 : 4.3 The reaction: Libertarian theories in psychology Carl Rogers Existentialist psychology 4.4 Cognitive psychology Modifying determinism to accommodate agency -. Albert Bandura Albert Ellis Roger Speny Modifying freedom to accommodate determinism D. C. Dennett Cognitive psychology as a form of soft determinism 4.5 Conclusions 5. Psycl~ologicalresearch 5.1 Introduction: 5,2 Claims to be established 5.3 Why an alternative to natural science is required in psychology 5.4 Freedom and hermeneutics Language Purpose Creativity Self awareness Responsibility 5.5 "Understanding" and "explanation": Can cognitive psychology bridge the gap? Certainty The Unity of Science Correct Method Metaphysics 5.6 Can a form of inquiry, without the assumption of determinism be cogent? 5 -7 The interpretivist approach in psychological research. 5.8 Implications for the unity of psychology 6. Psychological practice 6.1 The rationale for an empirical study 6.2 A review of the empirical literature 6.3 The research questions 6.4 The development of free willldeterrninism scales 6.5 Development of a helpinglcoping styles measure 6.6 Development of a counselling approach measure 6.7 Subjects 6.8 Procedure 6.9 Results: Descriptive statistics 6.1 0 Results: Beliefs of psychologists regarding free will and determinism and a comparison with the beliefs of non psychologists 6.1 1 Results: Relationships between psychologists' beliefs in free willldeterminism and their preference for therapeutic theories and techniques 6.12 Results: Relationship between psychologists' attributions of responsibility and their free wi111determinism beliefs 6.13 Results: Relationship between psychologists' attributions of responsibility and their preference for therapeutic theories and techniques. 6.14 Discussion 6.15 Conclusions 7. Discussion and conclusions 7.1 Review Orientation - Positions in the debate Kant Theory Research Practice 7.2 Conclusions .7.3 Recommendations References Appendices Appendix 1. Copy of materials used in the empirical study Appendix 2. Statistical output for the empirical study Appendix 3. Data files LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary representation of four styles of helping and coping proposed by Brickman, Rabinowitz, Karuza, Coates, Cohn & Kidder (1 982) 196 -. I Table 2. Factor analysis of the freedom and determinism scales 201 Table 3. A Sample means, standard deviations and the possible range of scores for the free will and determinism scales 208 j Table 3. B Means, standard deviations and ranges for the sample of counselling psychologists on the helping styles items 208 Table 3. C Means, standard deviations and ranges for the sample of counselling I I psychologists on preference for theoretical approaches to counselling 208 Table 3. ID Sample means, standard deviations and the possible ranges of the I I specified therapeutic techniques 209 i 1 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "Human beings make real choices" 211 ' Figure 2. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "The human imagination brings genuine novelty into the world" 21 1 Figure 3. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "Human nature has inherent dignity" 212 j Figure 4. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "All the genetic and environmental givens of my life are like the artist's 7 paints and brushes - the raw materials out of which I create my being and my history" 212 ! Figure 5. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "Whether we avoid environmental disaster depends on the personal choices we I make now" 213 I Figure 6. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "It is fiee will which makes us human" 213 Figure 7. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "I am simply the product of my genetic inheritance and the environmental forces which have acted upon me" 214 Figure 8. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "The great truth underlying fiee market economics is that human beings cannot do otherwise than seek their own pleasure" 214 Figure 9. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "If we knew enough we would see that for every decision we have ever made, we could not have done otherwise under those conditions 215 Figure 10. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "As I look back over my life so far, I realise that much of it was determined by factors beyond my control such as my inherited cl~aracteristicsand my childhood upbringing" 21 5 ... Vlll i Figure 11. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "Our choices are not really choices at all but predetermined" ,216 ' Figure 12. Response of sample of psychologists to the statement "A murderer could rarely have done otherwise than commit the deeds he or she did" 216 Figure 13. Percentage allocation of subjects into Helping Styles quadrants 221 Abstract Free will/determinism continues as an issue of contention within psychology. As a metaphysical problem its resolution does not lie within the province of psychology as an empirical discipline. This project begins with the proposition that psychology needs a conceptual framework which will enable it better to grasp, manage, and control the issue. Of all the approaches available, the work of Immanuel Kant seems best able to fulfil these criteria. The implications and benefits of this approach were examined in relation to relevant aspects of psychological theory, research, and practice. An empirical study explored aspects of the freedom determinism issue in counselling practice. Scales were developed to measure beliefs in free will and determinism. Freedom and determinism items were found to load on separate factors. This suggests that a Kantian approach corresponds, in important respects, with the way people, without philosophical training, actually handle the issue. Other tools were developed to gauge attributions of responsibility made by psychologists to their clients, and the preferences of psychologists for therapeutic theories and techniques. A sample of 87 psycl~ologistsengaged in counselling were overwhelmingly libertarian in their personal beliefs and attributed high levels of responsibility to their clients. The present situation in which a predominantly deterministic theoretical and research discipline informs a generally libertarian counselling practice was deemed unsatisfactory. A Kantian approach would uphold the legitimacy and value of freedom and determinism in theory, research, and practice. Declaration This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at any University and to the best of my 1 knowledge and belief contains no material previously published or written by another person or persons except where
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