different concepts of free will you read about in Unit 3.
People encounter issues that relate to whether or not they are free on a daily basis, but one that can affect people’s lives dramatically is addiction. This assignment clarifies the importance of how we understand addiction and whether or not we can see addiction as a free will choice or as a predetermined condition, depending on how we use the different theories on free will from our readings.
Tasks
Read this article from the NIH about the Biology of Addiction.
Then write an essay that answers these questions:
- What would d’Holbach say about the passage above?
- How would a determinist address the issue of “changes in the brain”?
- What would a compatibilist or soft-determinist say about the work required in overcoming addiction:
o Which philosopher would make a distinction between internal and external causes of addiction? (You might also think of this as “nature vs. nurture”)
o Does having will power relate to free will? Do some people have a “character” or “will” that helps them overcome addiction while others do not? - Can you relate the issue of free will to the earlier discussions of the self from Unit 2? Does the issue of addiction relate to the mind, or to the senses, or to memories? Be specific and provide reasons for your position.
Formatting
- The body of the essay must be a minimum of 5-6 pages in length (approximately 1500 – 2000 words)
- Use 1 inch margins
- Use 12 point, Times New Roman font
- Use double spacing throughout, except where style guides dictate single spacing on the Works Cited page
- Use page numbers on all pages but for the cover sheet and start the page numbering on the first page of the main body of the paper.
- Include a separate Title Page
- Include a Works Cited Page
- Properly use MLA in-text citations for paraphrasing and direct quoting (Purdue OWL MLA Formatting and Style Guide)
- Here is an example essay with MLA citations