Mr. Sammi

Lots of talk about "will". Political will, this will, that will. Lots of times I believe I got caught up in another's whim not their will. However it was claimed to be a glorious will by the other, whereas I was certain it was just a whim. It seems their whim was their will.

So was it FREEWHIM or was it FREEWILL that stepped on your toes the last time?

Can any lines be drawn which could seperate WHIM from WILL? I was undecided at the time this was posted.

Sammi Na Boodie ()

John Page

a whim would seem to lack a purpose or objective.

victorialis

Your question seems to revolve around two issues:

1) duration: a whim is momentary; it would seem that by comparison, will is not.

2) organization: a whim is random and arbitrary, a solecism, not part of a larger ideal, while will connotes reflection or planning of some kind.

But I don't think this answers your question at all.

What would one do with a definitive answer?

If one's toes get mashed, then the question is what to do about it.

excreationist

Perhaps a whim would just be something that is motivated by mild boredom - a desire for newness where the first good idea that is thought of is used.
The will would be more thought out, based on a definite purpose. I think it makes the person more committed than a whim since a whim doesn't have a very strong motivation. If it is too difficult to carry out the whim you'd just think of some other way of relieving your boredom or maybe the struggle itself would be enough and so you might carry on doing your usual habits.

DRFseven

Whim and will are the same thing; whim just describes behavior characterized by being sudden, not well-thought-out, and/or out-of-the-ordinary, for a particular person, and therefore unexpected. Capricious. Once I picked up and smelled some pineapple sage at a garden shop and, on a whim, went home and baked a pineapple-upside-down cake, something I hadn't done in ten years. But a whim is certainly attributable. Our wills are not only affected by long-term goals, but by momentary stimuli, as well. A "fancy" is a good synonym for a whim, though the word is hardly ever used that way here in the States.

Mr. Sammi

Interesting ideas. I see a bit of folkism in the whim definition.

I think some are saying whim is connected to indeterminate causes. Am i right?

Could whim be strongly connected to the absurd side of life. This translates to living in the absurd becomes reported as whim.

Sammi Na Boodie ()

Ierrellus

sammi,

WHIM: I'm gonna trounce on your toes just because they are there.
WILL: I'm gonna get you back for what you did to me. I'll jump on your toes for a starter.

Difference--premeditation.

Ierrellus

Pax

John Page

But isn't a whim acted on without regard to the consequences, i.e. for simple gratification or satisfaction of desire, whereas a willful decision is more goal directed?

Arguably premeditation steers one away from whimsy because one is necessarily meditating upon consequences.

I don't go for the time definition, whimsy could be used to describe unfocused will.

Cheers, John

DRFseven

But will is desire; whim is only one aspect of will. It's not like they're opposites. Whimsy is only a useful way of describing certain manifestations of will.

John Page

I agree whim can be regarded as a subset of will, but surely desire is the "want" rather than the motivation (will, whimsy) to satisfy it.

Cheers, John