Recognitive Volitional Practices and the Ontology of the Will ¹

Abstract

Recognitive volitional practices are practices in which a person is recognised as having a will in a matter. Different ways of understanding the will presuppose or project different kinds of recognitive volitional practices – and vice versa. In the history of philosophical treatments of the will, it has generally been assumed that its mode of being is psychological; the will is understood to be some kind of power of the mind. An alternative would be to understand the mode of being of the will as recognitive, such that the existence of a will as a will makes essential reference to the practices in which it is recognised. These ideas are explored with reference to three recognitive volitional practices: one implicated in a 2016 atrocity in Japan; one from baptismal practices in an ancient Coptic community in Upper Egypt; one from a celebrated scene in American cinema. A conditional proof is offered in support of the hypothesis that the will enjoys a recognitive mode of being. The hypothesis is explored in connection with the ongoing struggle for more inclusive forms of legal recognition, particularly for persons living with disabilities.