There are many classical theories that could be potentially suitable for the analysis of these women, however one of the more prominent aspects would be the theory of free will and determinism. There is an endless debate on if one possesses free will or agency. To have complete agency is to be unaffected by outside factors, therefore have a high sense of free will (Gunn, 2015). The debate on whether someone has free will or not relates to the Myra Hindley case as well as the Debra Brown case. In both situations, the women are actively researched to find an excuse for their deviant behavior, for Hindley it is hoped that she was so infatuated or highly influenced by Brady that she had no free will in what she was doing (Gunn, 2015); for Brown, …show more content…
This is where the term doubly deviant comes into action. The term describes both Hindley and Brown in the aspect that they both had raped, tortured and murdered children which creates the view that they are doubly deviant females (Lloyd, 1995). As a society there is reason to believe that through language the concept of free will is a way to hold people morally responsible for their conduct, yet determinism is used to explain, control and influence behavior (Gunn, …show more content…
However she also suggests the reasons why Debra still had a sense of some free will, because at the age of twenty-one, she broke off an engagement to a nice man to be with the more charismatic Alton, whom she quickly fell in love with. Even though her parents strongly objected with the match, the relationship grew further, they moved in together and he introduced her to the increasingly violent brand of sex. Brown was so devoted to Alton that even when abusive tendencies arose or when he wanted to dress like a women, she did not mind. Having only one sex slave was not enough for Alton, as he was sexually abused by his mother and wanted to hurt children, men, and women the way his mother had hurt him (Davis, 2005). Similar to Myra Hindley, Debra Brown had been in love with the partner involved, infatuated like Myra, and both ended up so devoted and submissive to their actions regardless of their psychological
A. Aileen Wuornos was born to a teenage couple. Her father was arrested for child molestation and hung himself in jail. Her mother abandoned her, and the maternal grandparents assumed guardianship. Most of western culture can agree the abuse of a child is a deviant act. In the case of Aileen, what social factors and “social controls” impeded the recognition of such deviant behavior?
“There is a continuum between free and unfree, with many or most acts lying somewhere in between.” (Abel, 322) This statement is a good summation of how Nancy Holmstrom’s view of free will allows for degrees of freedom depending on the agent’s control over the situation. Holmstrom’s main purpose in her Firming Up Soft Determinism essay was to show that people can have control over the source of their actions, meaning that people can have control over their desires and beliefs, and because of this they have free will. She also tried to show that her view of soft determinism was compatible with free will and moral responsibility. While Holmstrom’s theory about the self’s being in control, willingness to participate, and awareness of an act causes the act to be free, has some merit, her choice to incorporate soft determinism ultimately proved to invalidate her theory.
Roderick Chisholm defends Libertarianism, and in his essay “Human Freedom and The Self” argues that we have freedom of the will. Chisholm does not abandon the idea of causes but instead defines two types of causation. The first is transeunt causation where one event or state of affairs causes another event or state of affairs. This causation is based on a relationship between events. The second is immanent causation where an agent causes an event or state of affairs. An agent is an uncaused causer of events who is not bound by the laws of nature. This causation is based on the relationship between an agent and an event. Chisholm quotes a passage from Aristotle to demonstrate his immanent causation, “Thus, a staff moves a...
In Roderick Chisholm’s essay Human Freedom and the Self he makes the reader aware of an interesting paradox which is not normally associated with the theory of free will. Chisholm outlines the metaphysical problem of human freedom as the fact that we claim human beings to be the responsible agents in their lives yet this directly opposes both the deterministic (that every action was caused by a previous action) and the indeterministic (that every act is not caused by anything in particular) view of human action. To hold the theory that humans are the responsible agents in regards to their actions is to discredit hundreds of years of philosophical intuition and insight.
In Edith Wharton’s book Ethan Frome, the main character, Ethan, struggles every day with decisions that are predetermined or made through the use of free will. Free will and determinism play a key role in deciding whether to abandon his current wife or not, which is his main internal struggle. Mattie Silver, who has come to take care of Zeena, falls in love with Ethan but feels wrong in doing so because Zeena is her cousin. Ethan loves her back but also feels bad about having a secret relationship with Mattie. They both have free will to run off and abandon Zeena but are predetermined to stay in Starkfield with her forever. In the real world, there is controversy about people having free will or determinism, and research
... middle of paper ... ... So one might ask: what possessed the girls to act the way they did? Scholars have explored all possibilities, both psychologically and biologically, to explain the “bewitchment” of the young girls.
Human beings always believe that what they want to do is ‘up to them,' and on this account, they take the assumption that they have free will. Perhaps that is the case, but people should investigate the situation and find a real case. Most of the intuitions may be correct, but still many of them can be incorrect. There are those who are sceptical and believe that free will is a false illusion and that it only exists in the back of people’s minds, but society should be able to distinguish feelings from beliefs in order to arrive at reality and truth.
In the part "The Breaking Process Of The African Woman" Lynch describes of ways to destroy the male image of the Black man so the Black Woman herself will become independent and she will raise her offspring in reversed roles. That means the Mother will make the son mentally weak, dependent, but physically strong so that he will not have the same fate as the male image that was once there, next she will raise he daughter to be psychologically independent.
This essay I have decided to write about Oprah Winfrey. This is because Oprah had many serious life events. These life events must have implemented her key development stages or the other.
The females make their own set of rules and have decision making powers. Miller’s studies have
The problem of free will and determinism is a mystery about what human beings are able to do. The best way to describe it is to think of the alternatives taken into consideration when someone is deciding what to do, as being parts of various “alternative features” (Van-Inwagen). Robert Kane argues for a new version of libertarianism with an indeterminist element. He believes that deeper freedom is not an illusion. Derk Pereboom takes an agnostic approach about causal determinism and sees himself as a hard incompatibilist. I will argue against Kane and for Pereboom, because I believe that Kane struggles to present an argument that is compatible with the latest scientific views of the world.
" Journal of Gender Studies 19.1 (2010): 73-86. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
middle of paper ... ... women know and think that if they don’t act or behave to their expectations they will. looked down upon and possibly neglected by their family and society. To avoid losing friends and family, most male and female, construct their own role in their life.
Freedom, or the concept of free will seems to be an elusive theory, yet many of us believe in it implicitly. On the opposite end of the spectrum of philosophical theories regarding freedom is determinism, which poses a direct threat to human free will. If outside forces of which I have no control over influence everything I do throughout my life, I cannot say I am a free agent and the author of my own actions. Since I have neither the power to change the laws of nature, nor to change the past, I am unable to attribute freedom of choice to myself. However, understanding the meaning of free will is necessary in order to decide whether or not it exists (Orloff, 2002).
Within and beyond philosophy, lies the tension between the universal concept of free will and determinism. From a general standpoint, individuals are convinced that they rule and govern their own lives. Free will embodies that individuals have the freedom to dictate their own future. It asserts that our minds and essence have the capacity to choose our own actions and direction, whilst also choose alternative paths. Determinism on the other hand, suggests that life is a product of necessity and causation, built upon the foundations of the past and laws of nature. It threatens the thesis of free will by positing that the world and everything in it is knowable through strict cause and effect relationships - eliminating the possibility of freedom