Introductory discussion

Abstract

This chapter introduces the basic idea of the volitional theory of causation, the proposal that volition, or will, of broadly the same kind as that which we experience in our own deliberate and voluntary doings, should be taken as the basis for all causality. The chapter proceeds by contextualizing the topic within current scholarly debate, outlining the methodology adopted, setting out the two basic elements of the causal theory of volition (specifically, the claim that, even if external reality seems to be wholly inert, within inner experience we find a sense of causal power, and the further highly expansive proposal that such intuitions give us the model for causation more generally), detailing the main issues which any adequate formulation needs to address, distinguishing the theory from superficially similar rivals and, finally, offering a preliminary taxonomy of different ways of thinking about the notion of will.