Chapter 15 - The Will

As a crescendo to the previous fourteen chapters, James explains the significance of the will within the educational context. He explains the dual definition of will; it describes both the capacity for impulse and action, as well as to describe actions which are deliberately executed in the face of multiple possibilities. A conscious thought eventually results in some sort of motor action in the body. However, one thought might override another, thus delaying this motor action. In fact, it is the interplay between the thought which might result in motor action and those successively held oppositional thoughts which is one of the main points of the chapter:

James defines the resultant voluntary action as "a compounding of our impulsions with our inhibitions" (p. 87). Out of this reactive contest emerges his definitions of will; one in which impulses will triumph and the other in which inhibitions will predominate. 

"So you see that volition, in the narrower sense, takes place only when there are a number of conflicting systems of ideas, and depends on our having a complex field of consciousness. The interesting thing to note is the extreme delicacy of the inhibitive machinery. A strong and urgent motor idea in the focus may be neutralized and made inoperative by the presence of the very faintest contradictory idea in the margin" (p. 85-86).

James admits that understanding this psychological tenet and the application of theory might be tricky. However, he reviews his previous words on the concept of education as a conditioning the habits of students as a means of shaping their will. In contrast to quoting John Wesley (p. 89), James admonishes us to consider that the educative process need not be a contest of wills, rather a gentle shaping of habits in order to allow the individual the self-governed ability to encourage desirable behaviors and displace the mental roots of potentially undesirable ones.

In fact, the real crux of this chapter and maybe the whole book takes place where James outlines what he calls "the general or abstract duty of teachers." It is to supply students with a deep reservoir of information (ideas) on which they may link more abstract and involved concepts, while at the same time diminishing their naturalistic immature impulses, but without stifling their passion for learning and "vigorous action" (p. 89).

How did you perceive the book? What lessons will you take from its pages? I think one useful exercise might be to construct an "instructional playbook" from this work. In other words, what are five to ten instructional maxims you could put into an outline or a rubric to let yourself know you had appercepted James' ideas?