II.

Philosophical Views

Until the 20th century most philosophers conceived the will as a separate faculty with which every person is born. They differed, however, over the role of this faculty in the personality makeup. For one school of philosophers, most notably represented by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, a universal will is the primary reality, and the individual's will forms part of it. In his view, the will dominates every other aspect of an individual's personality, knowledge, feelings, and direction in life. A contemporary form of Schopenhauer's theory is implicit in some forms of existentialism, such as the existentialist view expressed by the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, which regards personality as the product of actions, and actions as manifestations of the will to give meaning to the universe.

Most other philosophers have regarded the will as equal or secondary to other aspects of the personality. Plato believed that the psyche is divided into three parts: reason, will, and desire. For rationalist philosophers, such as Aristotle, St Thomas Aquinas, and René Descartes, the will is the agent of the rational soul in governing purely animal appetites and passions. Some empirical philosophers, such as David Hume, discount the importance of rational influences upon the will; they think of the will as ruled mainly by emotion. Evolutionary philosophers, such as Herbert Spencer, and pragmatist philosophers, such as John Dewey, conceive the will not as an innate faculty but as a product of experience evolving gradually as the mind and personality of the individual develop in social interaction.