1 Toward a Science of Volition

This book aims at improving our understanding of the processes supporting voluntary action by looking at conditions in which the will is impaired or even breaks down. We use this introductory chapter to prepare the ground for contributions by philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists that tackle the experience of acting intentionally, the ability to make decisions and implement one's goals, and the many ways in which the experience and the exertion of willful behavior can be disturbed. In the first part of this introduction, we describe the status of the will as we see it in present and past thinking. In the second part of the chapter, we provide an overview of the contributions in this book.