human will

Choosing one's path

Human will is the capacity to choose and act deliberately, especially in the face of obstacles or competing desires.

It implies agency—the sense that a person can decide their course rather than being swept along by circumstance or impulse.

Through sheer human will, she rebuilt her life after the disaster.

Philosophers debate whether human will is truly free or determined by prior causes, but the felt experience of choosing remains central to how people understand themselves.

Related

intention · desire · freedom · autonomy · decision · purpose · mind over matter · tenacity · grit · never give up · stubbornness · defiance · resistance · surrender · consent · ambition · striving · struggle

Categories
Opposites
agency and control

human willreflex

Involuntary stimulus response

instinct · compulsion · coercion · automation · programming

source of determination

human willfate

Predetermined course of events

predestination · determinism · destiny · divine will · God's will

conscious volition

human willreflex

Involuntary stimulus response

impulse · urge · drive · appetite · animal instinct

Family

human, will, humans, humanly, humane, inhumane, humanity, humanities, humanize

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G