Though Epictetus contends that man has power over his will, he well knew how weak this power sometimes is. An appearance, he says (p. 86), is presented, and straightway I act according to it; and, what is the name of those who follow every appearance? They are called madmen.—Such are a large part of mankind; and it is true, that many persons have no Will at all. They are deceived by appearances, perplexed, tossed about like a ship which has lost the helm: they have no steady, fixed, and rational purpose. Their perseverance or obstinacy is often nothing more than a perseverance in an irrational purpose. It is often so strong and so steady that the man himself and others too may view it as a strong will; and it is a strong will, if you choose, but it is a will in a wrong direction. "The nature of the Good is a certain Will: the nature of the Bad is a certain kind of Will" (i. c. 29).
Those who have been fortunate in their parents and in their education, who have acquired good habits, and are not greatly disturbed by the affects and the passions, may
the Latin word 'voluntas,' especially in the law writers, does represent a deliberate purpose or will, as when a man intends, designs, and uses the necessary means, for example, to kill another, in which case the Romans rightly viewed the will as equivalent to the deed. Cicero (Tuscul. iv. 6) says, "Quamobrem simul objecta species cujuspiam est, quod bonum videatur, ad id adipiscendum impellit ipsa natura. Id quum constanter prudenterque fit, ejusmodi appetitionem Stoici βούλησιν appellant, nos appellamus Voluntatem. Eam illi putant in solo esse sapiente, quam sic definiunt: Voluntas est quae quid cum ratione desiderat. Quae autem ratione adversa incitata est vehementius, ea libido est, vel cupiditas effrenata, quae in omnibus stultis invenitur."
In p. 183 Schweighaeuser has a note on the προαιρετικὴ δύναμις and προαίρεσις, which are generally, he says, translated by Voluntas; but, he adds, it has a wider meaning than is generally given to the Latin word, and it comprehends the intellect with the will, and all the active powers of the mind which we sometimes designate by the general name of Reason.
