Page "Will (philosophy)" Paragraph 26

The use of English in philosophical publications began in the early modern period, and therefore the English word " will " became a term used in philosophical discussion.

During this same period, Scholasticism, which had largely been a Latin language movement, was heavily criticized.

Both Francis Bacon and René Descartes described the human intellect or understanding as something which needed to be considered limited, and needing the help of a methodical and skeptical approach to learning about nature.

Bacon emphasized the importance analyzing experience in an organized way, for example experimentation, while Descartes, seeing the success of Galileo in using mathematics in physics, emphasized the role of methodical reasoning as in mathematics and geometry.

Descartes specifically said that error comes about because the will is not limited to judging things which the understanding is limited to, and described the possibility of such judging or choosing things ignorantly, without understanding them, as free will.