Passage Discussion

[ganbayou]

Hello,

I'm a little not sure what "soft determinism" is...
I know what free actions and constrained actions are, but not sure the between...

Thank you

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

You might think of "soft determinism" as "quasi determinism," or something akin to determinism light. Soft determinism means that in a deterministic world, there is room for free will as well.

Passage A
Main Point (lines 15-21) - new neuroscience research suggests the criminal justice system should abandon the idea of retribution.

Passage B
Main Point (lines 33-36) - Ayer argued that even in a deterministic world there is room for one to act freely.

[ganbayou]

You might think of "soft determinism" as "quasi determinism," or something akin to determinism light. Soft determinism means that in a deterministic world, there is room for free will as well.

Passage A
Main Point (lines 15-21) - new neuroscience research suggests the criminal justice system should abandon the idea of retribution.

Passage B
Main Point (lines 33-36) - Ayer argued that even in a deterministic world there is room for one to act freely.

Thank you for your reply.
I might be confused with the difference between soft determinism and determinism...from the passage I feel the two are kind of the same.
Something inside of you decide how to act, right?
If it's from your inside, it's your decision and there is freewill somewhere...could you give me an example of each?

[seychelles1718]

what is the relationship between Passage A and B?

[ohthatpatrick]

Good question. Here's the list of things I consider when I'm thinking about the relationship between the two:

Same/different in terms of
TOPIC?
PURPOSE?
TONE?
MAIN POINT?
EVIDENCE CITED?
SCOPE?

I saw a lot of overlap in TOPIC.

They both deal with the idea of brain chemistry really being the cause of most of our actions.

Psg. A uses that topic as a springboard for talking about how we should deal with punishing (or not punishing) criminals.
Psg. B uses that topic as a springboard for talking about whether we have any free will or whether all actions are determined, exploring one possible distinction in "soft determinism" between free and constrained actions.