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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty nine. The will. The activities of the will

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comprise the third great class of mental processes. Psychologists always

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have differed greatly in their conception of just what constitutes

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these activities. Even to day, it is difficult to obtain

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a dictionary definition of the will that agrees with the

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best opinion on the subject. The dictionaries adhere to the

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old classification and conception, which regarded the will as that

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faculty of the mind or soul by which it chooses

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or decides. But with the growth of the idea that

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the will acts according to the strongest motive, and that

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the motive is supplied by the average struck between the

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desires of the moment under the supervision of the intellect,

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the conception of will as the choosing and deciding faculty

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is passing from favor. In place of the older conception

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has come the newer one, which holds the will is

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primarily concerned with action. It is difficult to place the

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will in a category of mental processes, but it is

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generally agreed that it abides in the very center of

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the mental being and is closely associated with what is

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called the ego or self. The will seems to have

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at least three general phases. Those are one the phase

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of action, two the phase of deliberation or choice, and

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three the phase of expression in action. In order to

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understand the will, it is necessary to consider each of

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these three phases of its activities. One. Desire. The first

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phase of will, which is called desire, is in itself

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somewhat complex. On its lower side, it touches and in

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fact blends into feeling and emotion. Its center consists of

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a state of tension akin to that of a coiled

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spring or a cat crouching ready for a spring. On

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its higher side, it touches, penetrates, and blends in to

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the other phases of the will which we have mentioned.

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Desire is defined as a feeling, emotion, or excitement of

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the mind directed toward the attainment, enjoyment, or possession of

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some object from which pleasure, profit, or gratification is expected.

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Hallick gives us the following excellent conception of the moving

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spirit of desire. Desire has for its object something which

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will bring pleasure or get rid of pain, immediate or

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remote for the individual or for some one in whom

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he is interested. Aversion or a striving away from something

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is merely the negative aspect of desire. In Halleck's statement

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above quoted, we have the explanation of the part played

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by the intellect in the activities of will. The intellect

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is able to perceive the relations between present action and

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future results, and is able to point the way toward

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the suppression of some desires in order that other and

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better ones may be manifested. It also serves its purposes

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in regulating the striking of the average between conflicting desires.

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Without the intervention of the intellect, the temporary desire of

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the moment would be invariably acted upon without regard to

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future results or consequences to one's self and others. It

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also serves to point out the course of action calculated

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to give the most satisfactory expression of the desire. While

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it is a fact that the action of will depends

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almost entirely upon the motive force of desire, it is

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likewise true that desire may be created, regulated, suppressed, or

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even by the action of the will. The will, by

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giving or refusing attention to a certain class of desires,

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may either cause them to grow and wax strong, or

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else die and fade away. It must be remembered, however,

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that this use of the will itself springs from another

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set of desires or feelings. Desire is aroused by feelings

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or emotions rising from the subconscious planes of the mind

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and seeking expression and manifestation. We have considered the nature

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of the feelings and emotions in previous chapters, which should

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be read in connection with the present one. It should

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be remembered that the feeling or emotional side of desire

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arises from either inherited race memories existing as instincts, or

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from a memory of the past experiences of the individual.

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In some cases, the feeling first manifests in a vague

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unrest cause by subconscious promptings and excitement. Then the imagination

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pictures the object of the feeling or certain memory images

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connected with it, and the desire thus manifests on the

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plane of consciousness. The entrance of the desire feeling into

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consciousness is accompanied by that peculiar tension which marks the

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second phase of desire. This tension, when sufficiently strong, passes

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into the third phase of desire, or that in which

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desire blends into will action. Desire in this stage makes

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a demand upon will for expression and action from mere

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feeling and tension of feeling. It becomes a call to action.

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But before expression and action are given to it, the

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second phase of will must manifest, at least for a moment.

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This second phase is that known as deliberation or the

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weighing and balancing of desire two deliberation. The second phase

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of will, known as deliberation, is more than the purely

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intellectual process which the term would indicate. The intellect plays

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an important part, it is true, but there is also

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an almost instinctive and automatic weighing and balancing of desires.

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There is seldom only one desire presenting its claims upon

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the will at any particular moment. It is true that

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occasionally there arises an emotional desire of such dominant power

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and strength that it crowds out every other claimant of

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the bar of deliberation, But such instances are rare, and

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as a rule there are a host of rival claimants,

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each insisting upon its rights in the matter at issue.

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In the amount of weak or undeveloped and untrained intellect,

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the struggle is usually little more than a brief combat

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between several desires in which the strongest of the moment wins,

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but with the development of intellect, new factors arise and

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new forces are felt. Moreover, the more complex one's emotional nature,

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and the greater the development of the higher forms of feeling,

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the more intense is the struggle of deliberation, or the

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fight of the desires. We see in Halleck's definition that

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desire has not only the object of bringing pleasure or

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getting rid of pain for the individual, but that the

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additional element of the welfare of someone in whom he

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is interested is added, which element is often the deciding factor.

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This element, of course, arises from the development and cultivation

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of one's emotional nature. In the same way, we also

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see that it is not merely the intermediate welfare of

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one's self or those in whom one is interested that

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speaks before the bar, but also the more oute welfare.

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This consideration of future welfare depends upon the intellect and

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cultivated imagination under its control. Moreover, the trained intellect is

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able to discover possible greater satisfaction in some course of

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action other than in the one prompted by the clamoring

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desire of the moment. This explains why the judgment and

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action of an intelligent man, as a rule are far

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different from those of the unintelligent one, and also why

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a man of culture tends toward different action from that

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of the uncultured, and likewise by the man of broad

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sympathies and high ideals acts in a different way from

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one of the opposite type. But the principle is ever

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the same. The feelings manifest in desire, the greatest ultimate

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satisfaction apparent at the moment is sought, and the strongest

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set of desires wins the day. Comment on this point

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is interesting. He says, desire is not always proportional to

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the idea of one's own selfish pleasure. Many persons, after

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forming an idea of the vast amount of earthly distress,

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desire to relieve it, and the desire goes out in action.

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As the benevolent societies in every city testify here, the

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individual pleasure is none the less, but it is secondary,

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coming from the pleasure of others. The desire of the

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near often raises a stronger desire than the remote. A

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child frequently prefers a thing immediately if it is only

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one tenth as good as something he might have a year.

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Hence a student often desires more the leisure of to

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day than the success of future years. Though admonished to study,

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he wastes his time and thus loses incomparably greater pleasure

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when he is tossed to the rear in a struggle

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for existence. The result of this weighing and balancing of

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the desire is or should be, decision and a choice,

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which then passes into action. But many persons seem unable

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to make up their own mind and require a push

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or urge from without before they will act. Others decide

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without proper use of the intellect, upon what they call impulse,

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but which is merely impatience. Some are like the fabled donkey,

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which starve to death when placed at an equal distance

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between two equally attractive haystacks, and was unable to decide

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towards which to move. Others follow the example of Chep

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in the comedy, who, when given a coin with which

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to buy a piece of soap for his wife, stood

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on the corner deliberating whether to obey orders or to

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buy a drink with the money. He wants the drink,

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but realizes that his wife will beat him if he

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returns without the soap. My stomach says, drink my back,

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says soap, says jep. But finally, he remarks, is not

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a man's stomach more to him than his back? Yes,

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says I. The final decision depends upon the striking a

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balance between the desires, the wig of desire for and

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desire against desire for this or desire for something else.

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The strength of the several desires depends upon nearness and

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present interest arising from attention as applied to the feelings

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and emotions arising from heredity, environment, experience, and education, which

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constitute character, and also upon the degree of intellectual clearness

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and power in forming correct judgments between the desires. It

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must be remembered, however, that the intellect appears not as

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an opponent of the principle of the satisfaction of desire,

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but merely as an instrument of the ego into eeminy,

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which course of action will result in the greatest ultimate

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satisfaction direct or indirect, present or future. Four. At the last,

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every individual acts so as to bring himself the greatest

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satisfaction immediate or future, direct or indirect, either personal or

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through the welfare of others, as this may appear to

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him at the particular moment of deliberation. We always act

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in the direction of that which will greater content our spirit.

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This will be found to be the spirit of all decisions.

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Although the motive is often hidden and difficult to find,

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even by the individual himself, many of the strongest motives

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having their origin in the subconscious planes of mentality. Three. Action,

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The third and final phase of will is that known

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as action, the act of eolition, by which the desire

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idea is expressed in physical or mental activis. The old

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conception of the will held that the decisive phase of

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the will was its characteristic and final phase, ignoring the

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fact that the very essence or spirit of will is

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bound up with action. Even those familiar with a newer

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conception frequently assume that the act of decision is the

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final phase of will, ignoring the fact that we frequently

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decide to do a thing and yet may never carry

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out the intention and decision. The active willing is not

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complete unless action is expressed. There must be the manifestation

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of the motor element or phase of will, else the

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will process is incomplete. A weakness of this last phase

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of will affects the entire will and renders its processes ineffective.

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The world is filled with persons who are able to

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decide what is best to do and what should be done,

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but who never actually act upon the decision. The few

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persons who promptly follow up the desa decision with vigorous

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action of those who accomplish the world's work. Without the

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full manifestation of this third phase of will, the other

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two phases are useless types of will. So far, we

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have considered merely the highest type of will, that which

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is accompanied by conscious deliberation, in which the intellect takes

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an active part in this process. Not only do the

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conflicting feelings push themselves forward with opposing claims for recognition,

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but the intellect is active in examining the case and

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offering valuable testimony as to the comparative merits of the

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various claimants and the effect of certain courses of action

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upon the individual. There are, however, several lower forms of

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will manifestation which we should briefly consider. In passing reflex action,

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the will is moved to action by the reflex activities

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of the nervous system, which have been mentioned in the

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earlier chapters of this book. In this general type, we

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find unconscious reflex action such as that manifested when a

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sleeper is touched and moves away, or when a frog's

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leg twitches when the nerve end is excited. We also

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find conscious reflex action, such as that manifested by the

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winking of the eye, or the performance of habitual physical motion,

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such as the movement in walking, operating the sewing machine,

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or typewriter, playing the piano, et cetera impulse of action.

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The will is often moved to action by a dim

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idea or vague perception of purpose or impulse. The action

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is almost instinctive, although there is a vague perception of purpose.

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For instance, we feel an impulse to turn toward the

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source of a strange sound or sight, or other source

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of interest or curiosity. Or we may feel an impulse

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rising from the subconscious plane of our mind, causing a

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dimly conscious idea of movement or action to relieve the tension.

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For instance, one may feel a desire to exercise or

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to seek fresh air or green fields, although he had

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not been thinking of these things at the time. These

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impulses arise from a subconscious feeling fatigue or desire for change, which,

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added to a fleeting idea, produces the impulse. Unless an

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impulse is inhibited by the will activities inspired by other desires, habits, ideas,

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or ideals, we act upon it in precisely the same

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way that a young child or animal does. Hofting says

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of this type of action, the psychological condition of the

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impulse is that with a momentary feeling and sensation should

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be combined a more or less clear idea of something

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which may augment the pleasure or diminish the pain of

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the moment instinctive action. The will is frequently moved to

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action by an instinctive stimulus. This form of will activity

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closely resembles the last mentioned form, and often it is

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impossible to distinguish between the two. The activities of the

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bee in building its comb and storing its honey, the

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work of the silkworm and caterpillar in building their resting

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places are examples of this form of action. Indeed, even

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the building of the nest of the bird may be

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so classed. In these cases, there is an intelligent action

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toward a definite end, but the animal is unconscious of

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that end. The experiences of the remote ancestors of these

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creatures recorded their impressions upon the subconscious mind of the species,

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and they are transmitted in some way to all of

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that species. The nervous system of every living thing is

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a record cylinder of the experiences of its early ancestors,

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and these cylinders tend to reproduce these impressions upon appropriate occasions.

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In preceding chapters, we have shown that even man is

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under the influence of instinct to a greater extent than

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he imagines himself to be.