Counterarguments to Skinner’s approach
According to Fromm (1941) free will can be defined as the idea that human beings can decide freely how best they want to act and behaves suggesting that we are more self-determined. However, thus definition is supported by the humanistic approach to free will. According to Maslow and Rogers in 1943 and 1951 respectively people’s behaviour is not determined but rather it is one's choice to decide how to behave. To illustrate the humanistic approach when people go out to eat it is their own will to decide what they want eats and the specific place they want to eat. Additionally, according to the humanistic psychologists believe that people can have free will as it is crucial to becoming fully functional…show more content… F. (1957). Skinner believes that people's behaviour and actions are because of the environment, thus if one is not responsible for their actions then truly we do not have the freedom to act therefore we do not have free will , suggesting that free will is an illusion (Skinner, 1957). Furthermore according to Skinner people tend to change their behaviour change their behave by structuring their environments so that people are rewarded for behaving in desirable ways (operant conditioning ) rather than focusing on meaningless nothings like free will and personal moral responsibility(Skinner, 1957). To illustrate the belief of illusion, if one is driving at high speed on the highway and he notices a police ahead sign, the driver automatically reduces the speed and slows down to avoid a speed ticket. Now in most case, if the driver is asked why he slowed down he will answer and say I have the free will to do so however one would realize that the environment and consequences lead to the slowing down of the car. The illusion comes in when one use the words like" I have free will'' however, in reality, the consequences are what has made you decide to behave in a certain way. (Ratheal & Wilks, 2005). The biological perspective extends the work of Skinner and believes that also internal forces are determining…show more content… "Both the external factors e.g. the environment and internal factors like genes and cognitions may influence the way we behave in some situations, we all still have control over certain things that we do”. This is supported by skinner who believes that free will is just an illusion rather than reality because people's action is mostly based on their environment, as seen in the example given up of the driver who slows down and the cashier who gives the robber the money. This is also supported by Clark et all in 2014 which believes that free will is only