noun

volition

voh-LISH-un/vəʊˈlɪʃn/

The ability or act of choosing by one's own will.

The man rises to help plant a tree of his own volition.

Volition shown through a self-initiated decision to participate: an older man rises from a seated group and steps toward an available tree-planting task while his companion remains comfortably seated.

Etymology

From wishing or willing, volition came to mean the act of making a definite choice. The selected sense names the power to exercise that choice oneself.

In context

The Daily Objective28:56

people do have this choice this volition and this opens up the idea that some things didn't have to be

Peikoff's "The Analytic-Synthetic Dichotomy" | James Valliant, Robert and Amy Nasir

More examples

The discussion concerned freedom and volition.
He acted without any exercise of independent volition.
The machine moved without human volition.

Forms

volition

voluntary adjective — done by free choice

Similar words

will: Will is the ordinary capacity to choose; volition is a formal term for that capacity or its exercise.
choice: Choice is a particular selection; volition concerns the agency behind choosing.