Determinism and Freedom in society and The theory of ethical Naturalism

Twentieth century philosophy began with the rejection of naturalism. Many modern philosophers had assumed that their subject was continuous with the sciences, and that facts about human nature and other such information were relevant to the great questions of ethics, logic, and knowledge. Determinist approach proposes that all behavior has a cause and is thus predictable. Free will is an illusion, and internal or external forces over which we have no control govern our behavior. The deterministic approach also has important implications for psychology as a science. Scientists are interested in discovering laws, which can then be used to predict events. This is very easy to see in physics, chemistry and biology. As a science, psychology attempts the same thing – to develop laws, but this time to predict behavior. If we argue against determinism, we are in effect rejecting the scientific approach to explaining behavior.