Will is an id-like nature that is focused on the individual satisfaction of all wants and desires; the first and “lower” part of Durkheim’s dual conception of human nature. Centred on the body, these egoistic drives and desires recognize no interests but those of the individual actor, pushing the individual to satisfy all wants and desires even at the expense of the will of others. The will knows no boundaries and is a “tyranny of passions imposed by nature” (Mestrovic, [1988]1993, 54); it is the root of all human wickedness and evil and the source of immorality.
Definition