Single Idea 19364

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 10. Conatus/Striving]

Full Idea

Volition is the effort or endeavour ('conatus') to move towards what one finds good and away from what one finds bad, the endeavour arising immediately out of one's awareness of those things.

Gist of Idea

Volition automatically endeavours to move towards what it sees as good (and away from bad)

Source

Gottfried Leibniz (New Essays on Human Understanding [1704], 2.21)

Book Reference

Leibniz,Gottfried: 'New Essays on Human Understanding', ed/tr. Remnant/Bennett [CUP 1996], p.172


A Reaction

Modern neuroscience seems to confirm that there is a chicken-and-egg problem here. Is the moment of perception as good or bad itself an act of volition, or is it neutral?