Discuss two or more types of determinism.

Refer to the case of Dancho as part of your

discussion.

Determinism is the view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or

external forces rather than an individual will to do something. There are different types of
determinism, for example: biological determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by
biological influences such as genetics, hormonal, and brain structure which we cannot
control. Dancho’s father was a pianist meaning biological determinism can explain his
abilities through an inherited gene.
Environmental determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by external forces such as
experiences, systems or reward and punishment that we can’t control. BF Skinner
described free will as an illusion and argues that all behaviour is the result of conditioning.
The environment Dancho was in involved learning music and enthusiasm for music
meaning he may have learned his abilities from the environment. Psychic determinism is
the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts and drives which we can’t
control. Freud believed that the cause of behaviour is rooted in childhood experiences.
Even if Dancho wanted to stop playing he can’t. This shows unconscious forces in psychic
determinism, memories of melodies act as childhood experiences. These explanations are
examples of hard determinism, they suggest that Dancho had no choice but to become a
musician. Determinism seems to be far too simplistic explanation for complex human
behaviour. Many factors would have influenced Dancho’s eventual career. Hard
determinism sees free will as an illusion and believes that every event and action has a
cause.
Hard determinism implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by
internal or external events beyond our control. An example of hard determinism is
Dancho’s case is that genetics and conditioning caused him to directly become a musician,
he had no choice of his own. Soft determinism believes that all events have causes but
behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choice in the absence of coercion. In
this case Dancho was predisposed to musical ability through his genetics and conditioning
but still had an active choice in becoming a musician which means the environment still
played a part.

In conclusion, free will and determinism are not incompatible. Hard determinism as an
approach is unfalsifiable. It is based on the idea that causes of behaviour will always exists,
even though they may not yet have been found. It could be argued that Dancho being a
musician was determined by biology and past experience, but he could have made different
choices when he got older (free will). Dancho being a musician is best explained by soft
determinism, people do have a choice, but that choice is constrained by external factors
e.g. having a musician for a father and attending a specialist music school from an early
age, doesn’t necessarily make you a musician, but it makes it more likely.