Itis，however，ofobviouspracticalimportancetoascertainhowfarthepowerofthewillwhethermetaphysicallyfreeornotactuallyextends:forthisdefinestherangewithinwhichethicaljudgmentsareinthestrictestsenseapplicable。Thisinquiryisquiteindependentofthequestionofmetaphysicalfreedom；wemightstateitinDeterministtermsasaninquiryintotherangeofeffectswhichitwouldbepossibletocausebyhumanvolition，providedthatadequatemotivesarenotwanting。Theseeffectsseemtobemainlyofthreekinds:first，changesintheexternalworldconsequentuponmuscularcontractions；secondly，changesinthetrainofideasandfeelingsthatconstitutesourconsciouslife；andthirdly，changesinthetendenciestoacthereafterincertainwaysundercertaincircumstances。
I。Themostobviousandprominentpartofthesphereofvolitionalcausationisconstitutedbysucheventsascanbeproducedbymuscularcontractions。Asregardsthese，itissometimessaidthatitisproperlythemuscularcontractionthatwewill，andnotthemoreremoteeffects；fortheserequiretheconcurrenceofothercauses，andthereforewecanneverbeabsolutelycertainthattheywillfollow。Butnomoreisitcertain，strictlyspeaking，thatthemuscularcontractionwillfollow，sinceourlimbmaybeparalysed，etc。Theimmediateconsequentofthevolitionissomemolecularchangeinthemotornerves。Since，however，wearenotconsciousinwillingofourmotornervesandtheirchanges，norindeedcommonlyofthemuscularcontractionsthatfollowthem，——itseemsamisuseoftermstodescribeeitherasthenormal`object’ofthemindinwilling:
sinceitisalmostalwayssomemoreremoteeffectwhichweconsciouslywillandintend。Stillofalmostalleffectsofourwillontheexternalworldsomecontractionofourmusclesisanindispensableantecedent；andwhenthatisoverourpartinthecausationiscompleted。
II。Wecancontroltosomeextentourthoughtsandfeelings。Itwouldseem，indeed，thatanimportantpartofwhatwecommonlycall`controloffeeling’comesundertheheadjustdiscussed。
Ourcontroloverourmusclesenablesustokeepdowntheexpressionofthefeelingandtoresistitspromptingstoaction:andasthegivingfreeventtoafeelingtends，generallyspeaking，tosustainandprolongit，thismuscularcontrolamountstoacertainpowerovertheemotion。Butthereisnotthesameconnexionbetweenourmuscularsystemandourthoughts: