Will and Idionomy

A conditioned response to an external stimulus is heteronomic behavior. The neutralization of a potential stimulus by impersonal Reason is the basis of Kantian 'autonomy'. Whether or not that Reason further suffices to initiate a positive course action is unclear. In contrast, Will, i. e. the process of setting oneself in motion, can neutralize a potential external influence, and can initiate a positive course of action, without the intervention of Reason. Hence, the personal creative conduct that it helps generate can be characterized as 'idionomous', to be distinguished from impersonal self-constraining 'autonomous' conduct. That personal creative conduct consists in a process of self-cultivation, in which in every new experiential episode, one varies what one has hitherto achieved. So, for example, even an encounter with an external threat or temptation is an opportunity for personal growth in idionomic experience.