'It is not possible to defend morality in light of deterministic viewpoints.' Discuss. [45 marks]
             Libertarianism is the view that we do have freedom. We are autonomous beings with the ability to make free moral choices. Determinism, however, holds the view that we do not have freedom and therefore humans can only have pre-conditioned, programmed choices over which they have no control. Such a viewpoint makes the concept of morality hard to defend since determinism undermines free will.
             The main argument for libertarianism is that in life and through our experiences, we feel that we are free. Freedom is generally felt by most people to be a given and an innate faculty of being human. For example, we feel free to choose tea of coffee or decide which shoes we want to buy. We also feel that we are free to make moral choices. We can decide whether to lie or to steal and feel that although we may be influenced, we are not governed by any laws of nature or our personality, upbringing and experiences. These arguments are, however, not conclusive. Just because you 'feel' you are free does not necessarily mean that you actually are. Neither should freedom be presumed just in order to preserve morality. Immanuel Kant, who was a believer of Newtonian physics, argued that although it is impossible to prove we are free, since this concept lies in the noumenal world beyond space and time, freedom must be presumed so that we can remain moral agents. This sense of moral freedom is also needed to enforce moral responsibility. This raises the question, if you believe we are determined, whether we should punish those who commit crimes.
             Hard determinists believe that determinism is a complete explanation for all our actions. It cannot be said to be compatible with any real moral choice. An example of hard determinism is scientific or causal determinism which comes from the work of Newton's laws of physics a...