Volitionism is a philosophical framework that treats conscious choice as real and causally significant. It holds that agency is not just a narrative we tell after the fact, and not merely a byproduct of mechanical processes or randomness.
In volitionism, laws and prior conditions may constrain what is possible, but they do not always uniquely determine what will occur. A volitional act is an agent-level selection among genuine alternatives.
Core claims
- Agency: The agent is a real causal locus, not an epiphenomenon.
- Intent: Reasons and goals can function as causes, not just explanations.
- Will: Choice is not identical to chance; it is a directed selection.
What volitionism is not
- Not “randomness equals freedom.” Noise is not agency.
- Not “physics is irrelevant.” Constraints and regularities still matter.
- Not a slogan. It’s a claim about explanation and causal structure.
If you want the longer argument—how volitionism differs from determinism, compatibilism, and indeterminism—continue to Learn more.