will

Will, in philosophy, refers to a property of the mind, and an attribute of acts intentionally committed. Actions made according to a person’s will are called “willing” or “voluntary” and sometimes pejoratively “willful” or “at will”. In general, “will” does not refer to one particular or most preferred desire but rather to the general capacity to have such desires and act decisively based on them, according to whatever criteria the willing agent applies. The will is in turn important within philosophy because a person’s will is one of the most distinct parts of their mind, along with reason and understanding. Will is especially important in ethics because it must be present for people to act deliberately. One of the recurring questions discussed in the Western philosophical tradition is the question of “free will”, and the related but more general notion of fate, which asks how will can be truly free if the actions of people have natural or divine causes which determine them, but which are not really under the control of people. The question is directly connected to discussions of what Freedom is, and also the “problem of evil”, because it brings into question whether people really cause their own acts.