Voluntarism (philosophy)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Voluntarism" philosophy – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Voluntarism is "any metaphysical or psychological system that assigns to the will (Latin: voluntas) a more predominant role than that attributed to the intellect",^[1] or equivalently "the doctrine that will is the basic factor, both in the universe and in human conduct".^[2] Voluntarism has appeared at various points throughout the history of philosophy, seeing application in the areas of metaphysics, psychology, political philosophy and theology.

The term voluntarism was introduced by Ferdinand Tönnies into the philosophical literature and particularly used by Wilhelm Wundt and Friedrich Paulsen.