Journal 5
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Miami Dade College, Miami *
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Course
2010
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
2
Uploaded by GrandArtWren28
Jennifer Coreas
Professor Sabrina Jamil
PHI2010-2233-6677
5 March 2023
Journal #5
2.
How would a personal belief in determinism affect your view of crime and
punishment? Do you think that people are generally responsible for their crimes, or
are they not responsible due to deterministic forces beyond their control?
I do not believe my personal belief in determinism affects my view of crime
and punishment, because there should be no justification or pre-determined events that can
cause a person to commit a serious crime.
As the it states in the text, “Determinism and free
will are incompatible doctrines; they both cannot be true. That is, if every event is
determined, there can be no free will; if free will exists, determinism cannot be actual”
(Vaughn, p. 253). Determinism in my belief only plays a role in certain situations. For
example, if one chooses to miss a few days of work for whatever reason, then it will result in
a shorter paycheck because their actions prior of missing those days affected how much they
earned for that period. Another example would be if a person is mentally ill, sometimes they
are unaware of their actions that can result in serious offenses in which at times they have no
control over. Or, if a person is defending themselves from an attacker which may result in the
loss of life of the attacker. I believe that is when determinism comes into a affect. When it
comes to committing murder, rape or anything that results in the loss of life or badly causing
bodily harm to others and the person has no prior history of mental illness then I believe it is
solely up to the free will and actions of that person. Those kinds of people are responsible for
their crimes because they choose violence over more sensible and non-threatening actions.
References
Vaughn, L. (2022). Philosophy here and now: Powerful ideas in everyday life. Oxford
University Press.
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