The Will

 

         The Will, the power by which we resolve to do, is the source and center of action. In it the man becomes a self-originating force in the world. It embodies the ideas of the mind and the desires of the heart in living deeds.

         The Will is the power of deciding or determining what to do, and of putting forth actions accordingly. The exercise of the will is called willing; the act of the will is called a volition. The Will may thus be defined as the power of putting forth volitions. Volitions are of two kinds, decisions (making a choice or decision) and executive volitions (putting that choice or decision into an act).

         To illustrate these two distinct functions of the Will, suppose two objects, A and B, are before me; I look at them both and decide to take A; this decision to take is an act of will. Following this decision, I will that my hand shall go forth to take the object I have selected; this also is an act of will. These two elements or activities of the will are entirely distinct. It can choose or decide between two objects, and this choice is an act of the will -a decision. The act of the will may stop here; the mind may change and the choice or decision never be put forth into executive volition. Or the mind may follow up its decisions and will to do what it decided to do. In other words, the act of choice may be followed by another act of the will which puts the mind or the body into action in accordance with the choice or decision -an executive volition. 

         If we analyze an act of the will, we shall find that it embraces or implies four distinct elements. First, there must be an object to be accomplished -a something to be done. Second, there must be some reason for the action -some reason why I decide and put forth the volition as I do. This reason why is called the motive. Third, there is a choice between objects; I select one thing in preference to another. This selection is called choice. Fourth, there is the will effort to act in accordance with this choice; a volition to carry out my choice into action. This is called the executive volition.

         Voluntary activity has an essential reference to the intellect. Nothing is willed unless it is first known. Thought must precede the deliberation of the will. An object is willed as it is known by the intellect and proposed to the will as desirable and good. Hence, the formal and adequate object of the will is good as apprehended by the intellect. 

         The Freedom of the Will. Freedom of the will is the power of exercising the will without hindrance or restraint. It is the power of deciding and putting forth volitions freely. The will is also free in refraining from making any choice.

         When it is stated that the will of man is free, it is by no means asserted that all the acts of man are free. The freedom of the will means only this, that when all the conditions for an act of the will are present, the will is endowed with the power to choose among various motives intellectually apprehended as good, to act or to abstain from action. Furthermore, there are actions which are not free, over which the individual has no control and for which he is not responsible. The doctrine of free will does not imply that man is constantly exerting this power. By far the larger part of many a man's life is administered by reflex acts, by the automatic working of the organism and by acquired habits.

         This fact leads some thinkers to dispute the freedom of the will. All the arguments proposed for the denial of the freedom of the will can be answered successfully in the framework of the Mind, in which framework the interaction of all the faculties -the Intelligence, the Sensibilities, and the Will- provides the foundation of the will's freedom. It should be remembered, however, that man does not always act in accordance with his prerogative of freedom. He often gives way to his lower impulses, and becomes a slave to his passions and his appetites. But he has the power to resist these impulses and to stand in the strength and dignity of his manhood with the crown of freedom on his brow.