Clarence Darrow Libertarianism

"OUR ETHICAL DECISIONS ARE MERELY THE RESULT OF SOCIAL CONDITIONING"

When discussing social conditioning, you would associate it with the sociological process in which individuals are trained to respond in a manner generally approved by society and peer groups within it. In this essay I will cover the views of Clarence Darrow, Psychological views of Piaget and Kohlberg, behaviourist views of Pavlov and Skinner, religious views of Calvin and predestination and finally I will compare deterministic views to libertarianism.

Clarence Darrow was known to be the most famous American defensive lawyer in the 1920’s. He was best known for the case of Leopald and Loeb (1924). Darrow defended the boys as they were charged for the murder and assault of 14 year old Robert ‘Bobby’ Franks. It was believed that Leopald and Loeb had reeled little Bobby into their car and had chiselled him to death. They were known to be best friends and lovers. Both boys had grown up being deprived of someone they love. Leopald’s mother died at birth and since he was a young boy he stated, “My presence is the reason for her absence”. However he was not the only one, Loeb was never wanted by his mother and so the distance between the two grew apart. Clarence Darrow argued, …show more content…
Being a hard determinist they believed what we do and what we say are already predetermined and we have no free will. Pavlov focused many of his studies on classical conditioning. Pavlov believed through the use of classical conditioning, associations can be made and they can be reinforced to dictate behaviour. The most famous example can be said to be the experiment on the Dogs. Frank Skinner could be used as a back up to Pavlov as he focused his work on operant conditioning. Skinner believed in rewards and punishments. The most famous experiment he ever held out was on the Pigeons and their response to

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