Will, Voluntary, Habit

Habitual behavior, as occurring automatically, might, therefore, be classified as 'involuntary'. However, 'automatic' does not clearly distinguish between rapidity of response and mechanical causality--while the latter might be involuntary, habitual behavior consists in the former. More important, the determining characteristic of Habit cannot be an aspect of a current actual process alone, but must lie in the relation of that process to previous sequences. In other words, Habit is defined by Repetition of behavior. But, as has been previously argued, following Deleuze, Repetition is a special case of Differentiation, i. e. it is minimal differentiation. Now, a voluntary act is an exercise of Will, and Will is the principle of Diversification in Experience. Hence, habitual behavior is not involuntary, but minimally voluntary.