Biological Determinism

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I find it obvious that psychopathy arises due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, although the relative significance of either one is less clear. A concept that goes on to cause issues however, is the notion that if someone’s behaviour and thought processes are determined by their genes and upbringing, then to what extent are they at fault for what they believe and how they act?
Determinism is the theory that every event is the effect of a cause, and that everything that occurs in the universe is solely dependent on and governed by causal laws. Determinists believe that humans cannot be held responsible for their actions as it is solely an accumulation of forces acting upon the person that makes them act in such a way, as they do not have the freedom to choose their actions. Causal determinism is the more general idea that past and present events combined with the laws of nature will be the basis for future events to occur, following the cause and effect idea previously stated. Within the context of psychopathy and criminal mindset, the more relevant types of determinism are biological determinism and environmental determinism. The idea that all belief, …show more content…

The most famous - and possibly one of the most radical - example of a Libertarian is Jean-Paul Sartre who was a part of the post WWII existentialist movement. He strongly believed that humans have the freedom to act and to choose saying “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does”. If we accept that humans have free will, it is also saying that in any given situation, a person has complete control over what they choose and that if they were to be placed in the same situation again they could have acted or chosen

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