Will and Novelty

Despite its prominence in some systems, Will is typically treated by them as ancillary to some other principle, e. g. to Self-Preservation, Power, Goodness, etc. Hence, both such systems, as well as the traditional 'Free Will vs. Determinism' debate to which they are subjected, easily overlook that one plain fundamental characteristic of Will is that it introduces novelty into experience. Now, the conditioned nature of Novelty, in both casual and rigorous contexts, is rarely recognized, i. e. 'new' is always, more properly, 'newer'. In other words, Novelty is both a function of its antecedents as well as a departure from them. Likewise, the construal of Will, in Formaterialism, as both conditioned and free, is neither contradictory nor esoterically paradoxical.