Voluntarism

When Duns Scotus argued in the 13th century that God's will precedes His intellect, he wasn't just doing theology—he was launching a philosophical insurgency against Dominican rationalism. This "Franciscan thesis" meant God could have created an entirely different moral order if He'd willed it, making ethics contingent rather than necessary. The ripples reached far beyond monastery walls: if will trumps reason even in God, what does that say about human decision-making and moral responsibility?

Schopenhauer transformed voluntarism from a theological position into a cosmic horror story. His "Will" wasn't rational choice but a blind, insatiable force driving all existence—the reason we suffer, crave, and can never be satisfied. This pessimistic voluntarism influenced everyone from Wagner's operas to Freud's unconscious drives, reframing human experience as fundamentally irrational. Suddenly, your inability to stop doomscrolling has a philosophical pedigree stretching back two centuries.

Nietzsche radicalized voluntarism into a tool for human flourishing: if there's no pre-given rational order, we must create our own values through sheer will. His "will to power" isn't about dominating others but about overcoming yourself, imposing form on chaos. This philosophical move underwrites everything from existential psychotherapy to startup culture's obsession with "disruption"—the idea that reality is plastic, awaiting your willful reshaping.

Voluntarism creates a fascinating problem for understanding addiction and compulsion. If will is primary, are addicts simply exercising their will differently, or does addiction reveal will's limits? Modern neuroscience shows the prefrontal cortex (rational control) battling the limbic system (desire)—a biological reenactment of the intellect-versus-will debate. Recovery programs often synthesize both: acknowledging powerlessness (will's limit) while simultaneously demanding radical choice (will's exercise).

Voluntarist thinking powered both liberation movements and totalitarian regimes. Social contract theory assumes societies are voluntarily created through collective will, not natural necessity—inspiring democratic revolutions. Yet the same logic enabled Lenin's voluntarism: if reality bends to will, a vanguard can force history forward, consequences be damned. The lesson? Whether will-over-reason liberates or tyrannizes depends entirely on whose will we're talking about and what constraints we accept.

Every time you hit snooze, you're living the voluntarism debate. Your rational intellect calculated optimal sleep hours last night; your will just chose ten more minutes. Voluntarism suggests this isn't weakness but a feature: our choices reveal what we truly value beyond abstract reasoning. The practical takeaway? Stop beating yourself up with "I should" statements grounded in pure reason, and start designing environments where your will and intellect aren't constantly at war.