The author of this essay has noted that both in the theme itself and in the explanatory note he is called upon to investigate anew the nature of signs in general and of words in particular. He considers himself all the more justified in this course that in former days several of the most influential philosophical authors, with the same object of removing the obscurity and confusion of terminology, considered it uniformly necessary, in the same way, to give a thorough account of the nature and origin of verbal meanings in general.
But the present author believes that by his determination and division of the concept “Will,” more especially by distinguishing the forms of a social will, he provides a better basis for such an account.
The “practical utility” of this contribution he finds,—in addition to the fact that every deep inquiry into important problems may be considered useful,—in that it aims itself at promoting the end in question, i.e. unanimity concerning concepts and concerning the expressions devised to denote them. For with a view to this end he holds it to be indispensable to create or confirm for thinkers, especially for thinkers at the beginning of their career, a clear and strong consciousness of their power over their material, of their free disposal, not only of sounds and other signs for the notification of concepts, but also of ideas for the formation of concepts. Owing to the darkness and inadequacy of the concept which is usually connected with the word “will,” this “opening of the door to choice” invariably leads to the absurd conclusion that groundless, i.e. irrational, caprice is to reign. As if in giving a man free disposal over a large property, I thereby intended to convey to him that he should waste his property or lay it out in a foolish manner. No doubt I give him the right to do so, but I give him also the right to the wisest disposal, division and determination of every part of it, and if I have any influence over his will I shall teach him to dispose of his means according to clearly conceived ends; and if I can further influence him in choosing his ends I shall teach him to aim at living as far as possible like a noble human being, and not to direct his efforts to sensuous enjoyment or idle honours. The freedom of the thinker must be understood in the same way. It must be assumed that his will is directed towards knowing reality in its nature and connexions, or it must be made clear to him that this is at least his immediate end. But if he is clear about this, then at once he has before him, instead of wild dissipation, a most difficult task: he has to dispose of the powerful means
