ABSTRACT
The sentiment which appears to be indispensable to any “strength” of character, and which is most intimately involved in what we call the “will”, is the self-regarding sentiment. The strong stimulus of self-consciousness and self-criticism which the ripening of the sexual instinct brings, and the full development of intelligence and power of abstract thought which is reached at the onset of adolescence, result in the growth of the self-regarding sentiment. The psychology of the will has always been a central problem, not only in psychology proper, but also in theories of conduct and the moral life. The act of choice does appear on the face of it a mysterious thing. “The will” is made of the same stuff as are the primitive impulses. It is those primitive impulses, organised into larger mental systems, which bear in their inner structure the impress of experience, the results of memory, imagination and thought.
