Critical Analysis of Human Freedom

A detailed Summary of Critical Analysis of Human Freedom

Free will, the definition can be read as, the ability or discretion to choose; free choice unconstrained by external agencies. Are we truly free? This question has baffled theorists and psychologists for centuries. If someone were to comment from a biological perspective, the answer would be no, humans do not have free will. The same is true for the majority of psychological perspectives. The humanistic as well as the cognitive perspective believe we as humans dictate and have the ability to change as well as control what happens in our daily lives. The problem with this is that there is no defining answer to this question. I will attempt to give my opinion on this question as well as validate it with information from different psychological perspectives.

>From a humanistic-existential approach, humans are free to determine their own behavior (Rathus20). A behaviorist would contrast this thinking greatly, implying that this is not observable and therefore cannot be regarded as a natural science. I agree with this mentality because psychology is supposed to be an imperial science. This means that it should be experimental, and emphasize observation and measurement. From the humanistic perspective you cannot reasonably

Williams, D.R. (1999). Towards a Science of Human Freedom. Retrieved February 22, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.psych.upenn.com

Calkins, M.W. (2000March). A Reconciliation Between Structural and Fundamental Psychology, (13), 61-81. Retrieved February 22, 2001 on the psychclassics data base on the World Wide Web: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca

According to David Williams, "when we experience freedom, when we commit acts of will, we believe we ourselves, not some outside circumstance, are the cause"(7). I think the important phrase here is that we believe we are the source of the decision. The question of human freedom will probably never be answered to the agreement of all psychological perspectives. There has been extensive research and numerous theories on this dilemma for centuries, and it will continue to be a haunting uncertainty for decades to come. I believe that as long as psychology is to be considered an empirical science that the most logical explanation to this question would be one that could be tested as well as proven. Humans do not posses the capability of having the freedom to choose their own destinies.

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Approximate Word count = 845
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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