In the

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are add ...

,Crawford, S. (2012)
Minds and mental phenomena: an introduction
3: Varieties of mental phenomena, accessed 19 May 2023 and in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

, conation refers to the ability to apply intellectual energy to a task to achieve its completion or reach a solution.Reitan, R. M. and Wolfson, D.
Conation: A Neglected Aspect of Neuropsychological Functioning
''Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology'', Vol. 15, No. 5, 2000, pp. 443–453, accessed 19 May 2023 Conation may be distinguished from other mental phenomena, particularly cognition, and

sensation Sensation (psychology) refers to the processing of the senses by the sensory system. Sensation or sensations may also refer to: In arts and entertainment In literature * Sensation (fiction), a fiction writing mode * Sensation novel, a Britis ...

, and has been described as "neglected" in comparison with these phenomena. It may overlap to some extent with the concept of motivation, but "the ability to focus and maintain persistent effort" has been seen as more pertinent to conation.

Definitions

Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines conation as "an inclination (as an instinct or drive) to act purposefully". The word comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ''conari'' (to try) and ''conatio'' (an attempt). Hannah ''et al.'' define "moral conation" as "the capacity to generate responsibility and motivation to take moral action in the face of adversity and persevere through challenges".

History

Edwin Boring Edwin Garrigues (Garry) Boring (23 October 1886 – 1 July 1968) was an American experimental psychologist, Professor of Psychology at Clark University and at Harvard University, who later became one of the first historians of psychology. A ''Rev ...

included a review of the history of the concept in his ''History of Experimental Psychology'', published in 1929, referring to

James Ward James Ward may refer to: Military *James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1864) (1833–?), American Civil War sailor * James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890) (1854–1901), American Indian Wars soldier *James Allen Ward (1919–1941), New Zealand pilot and Vi ...

's typology of cognition, conation, and feeling, and to conation as

George Stout George Frederick Stout (; 1860–1944), usually cited as G. F. Stout, was a leading English philosopher and psychologist. Biography Born in South Shields on 6 January 1860, Stout studied psychology at the University of Cambridge under J ...

's "famous doctrine". The division of the mind into cognition, conation (or desire), and feeling was also described by

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

. However, Norman Schur more recently included the word "conation" among his ''1000 most challenging'' (or oft-forgotten or unknown) words in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

. For George Berkeley in his essay '' De Motu'', it was a term to be avoided, because "we do not rightly understand" its meaning.Kilne, A. D.
George Berkeley: Philosophy of Science
in the '' Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', accessed 23 May 2023

Research

Neuropsychology researchers Ralph M. Reitan and Deborah Wolfson looked at the performance of specific tasks which were "judged to require conative ability" in a research study published in 2000 and surmised that "conation, which has been a neglected dimension of behavior in neuropsychological assessment, may be the missing link between cognitive ability and prediction of performance capabilities in everyday life".

References

{{reflist Concepts in the philosophy of mind Psychological concepts

Definitions

History

Research

See also

Further reading

References