Determinism, Moral Responsibility, Blame, and Praise

1. Determinism, Moral Responsibility, Blame, and Praise Shirley Ogletree, Professor Colleagues include: Crystal Oberle, Rick Archer, Jennifer Covington, Julia Bahruth, Janine Harlow Texas State University—San Marcos Presentation for UT—Developmental Area

2. General Outline • Determinism vs. Free Will • Philosophical positions • Psychological positions • College students’ beliefs • Determinism and Moral Responsibility • Is moral responsibility incompatible with moral responsibility? • Skinner’s position • Interpersonal Judgments of Blame and Praise • Are determinists more tolerant? • Background factors & praise/blame • Other Implications

3. Determinism Vs. Free Will • Philosophical positions • Hard determinism (Ayer, 1954) • Soft determinism (Stace, 1952) • Libertarian (Kane, 2009) • Psychological positions • Determinism explained: “Groundhog Day” • Determinists—Freud, Skinner; Wegner (2004) • Support free will—Rogers, Maslow; Hodgson, (2005)

4. College Students’ (Texas State)Beliefs • On a five-point scale (1—definitely do NOT have free will, 5—definitely HAVE free will), 83% chose a “4” or “5” • Students most strongly agreed with the statement (69% chose a “4” or “5”), “People’s genes, their past experience, and their current circumstances influence their behavior, but ultimately they freely choose among their options and therefore have free will.” • Assessing the amount of free will (1—COMPLETE free will to 10—NO free will), 64% of participants choose a number < 5 (labeled SOME free will). • Your thoughts—why is belief in free will so pervasive? • Source: Two studies in Ogletree & Oberle (2008)

5. Determinism Vs. Free Will

6. Determinism and Moral Responsibility • Incompatibilists: One cannot be morally responsible if one is not ultimately responsible for his/her actions. • Skinner’s (1972) perspective: • Consequences justified by: • Individual outcomes • Outcomes for society • Others (Clark 2006; Stace, 1952) agree

7. Determinism and Tolerance • Walking a mile in “your” shoes • Smilansky (2005) • Determinism – “the great eraser” • Research—little consistency relating more tolerant and free will/determinism attitudes • Ogletree & Archer (2011); Ogletree, Covington, & Archer (submitted)—several small correlations with libertarian attitudes and “blameworthiness” or “praiseworthiness” • Why? • College psychology students? • Emotional reactivity—Nichols (2007); Nichols & Knobe (2007) • “Nonrational processes”—Rogerson, Gottlieb, Handelsman, Knapp, Younggren, 2011 (American Psychologist)

8. Experimental Manipulation of Choice • Manipulation of “choice” • Activated by directions: • “Whenever you see the student making a choice, press the Spacebar.” • “Whenever you see the student touching an object with his hand for the first time, press the Spacebar .” • Increased blame for victim and reduced empathy Savani, Stephens, and Markus (2011) in Psychological Science

9. Blame and Hardship Scenarios Ogletree & Archer (2011) in Ethics & Behavior • Study 1: 8 scenarios, 4 describing problem with alcohol abuse, 4 describing homelessness • Within each problem, scenario varied depending upon amount of childhood hardship. • Hardship significantly (negatively) predicted homelessness blame • Study 2: 12 scenarios varying target gender, problem (alcohol abuse, homeless) and background information. • Both alcohol abuse, homelessness: more difficult childhood—less blame • Rated similarity to target significant for alcohol abuse

10. Praise and Hardship Scenarios Ogletree, Covington, & Archer (submitted to Social Research Justice) • Study 1: • 8 scenarios, varying in accomplishment (accepted at Julliard, finalist on American Idol), childhood background information • Results: Rated effort, hardship predicted “praiseworthiness” • Study 2: • 12 scenarios, varying in accomplishment (soccer, tennis, math, poetry), childhood background information • Results: Rated effort, hardship again predicted “praiseworthiness”

11. Conclusion • Even though deterministic attitudes do not clearly predict tolerance, college students give less blame and ascribe more credit when childhood hardships are highlighted. Can we become more tolerant by learning more about each other?

12. Other Implications • Perceptions of Choice? • My perspective • Choice more important • Determinism—positive philosophy • Relations with primates? • Texas State college students: • Humans different from both chimpanzees and rats • Chimpanzees differed from rats in perceived moral responsibility and free will. Ogletree, Oberle, Harlow, & Bahruth, (2010) in Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology

13. References • Ayer, A. J. (1954). Philosophical essays. MacMillian: London. • Clark, T. W. (2006, May). Explaining Moussaoui. June 7, 2006, from http://www.naturalism.org/moussaoui.htm • Hodgson, D. (2005). A plain person’s free will. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 12, 3-19. • Kane, R. (2009). Libertarianism. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosphy in the Analytic Tradition. 144, 35-44. Doi : 10.1007/s11098-009-9365-y • Nichols, S. (2007). After incompatibilism: A naturalistic defense of the reactive attitudes. Philosophical Perspectives, 21(1), 405-428. • Nichols, S., & Knobe, J. (2007). Moral responsibility and determinism: The cognitive science of folk intuitions. Noûs, 42 (4), 663-685. • Ogletree, S. M., & Archer, R. A. 2011. Interpersonal judgments: Moral responsibility and blame. Ethics and Behavior, 21, 1-14. • Ogletree, S. M. & Oberle, C. D. 2008. The nature, common usage, and implications of free will and determinism. Behavior and Philosophy, 36, 5-19 • Ogletree, S. M., Oberle, C. D., Harlow, J., & Bahruth, J. (2010). Perceptions of choice: Free will, moral responsibility, and mind-body dualism in humans, chimpanzees, and rats. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 4 (3), 142-155. • Rogerson, M. D., Gottlieb, M. C., Handelsmann, M. M., Knapp, S., Younggren, J. (2011). Nonrational processes in ethical decision making, American Psychologist, 66, 614- 623. • Savani, K., Stephens, N. M., & Markus, H. R. (2011) The unanticipated interpersonal and societal consequences of choice: Victim blaming and reduced support for the public good. Psychological Science, 22, 795-802. • Skinner, B. F. (1972). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. • Smilansky, S. (2005). Free will and respect for persons. Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 29, 248-261. • Stace, W. T. (1952). Religion and the modern mind. Philadelphia: Lippincott. • Wegner, D. M. (2004). Précis of The illusion of conscious will. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27, 649-692.