What does it mean for an action to be "voluntary"? The OED (New Edition) says the definition of "voluntary" is:
Of course, this prompts the question: when do incentives become so strong that the action can no longer be called voluntary? What if the person in the example above is only threatened with severe injury? What if they're just threatened with severe poverty? Or offered extreme wealth? More moderate wealth? Every time they have a choice, and every time the course of action is prompted or suggested by another person. So when does it become voluntary?
I'm not sure. I would suggest that a proper analysis would depend upon the following factors, but I'm not sure how best to combine these factors.
Of actions: Performed or done of one's own free will, impulse, or choice; not constrained, prompted, or suggested by another.Taken as a whole, these definitions suggest some sort of division on a scale of incentives. At the extreme end of incentivized action, we would consider an action "demanded of one" and "constrained and prompted by another." For instance, when a person is commanded to take an action and threatened with death if they do not comply, we would consider their action involuntary even though it is "left to choice." They are not physically or otherwise constrained to one course of action, they are just presented with a situation where the incentives tilt the choice heavily towards one option.
Sometimes denoting ‘left to choice’, ‘not required or demanded of one’.
Of course, this prompts the question: when do incentives become so strong that the action can no longer be called voluntary? What if the person in the example above is only threatened with severe injury? What if they're just threatened with severe poverty? Or offered extreme wealth? More moderate wealth? Every time they have a choice, and every time the course of action is prompted or suggested by another person. So when does it become voluntary?
I'm not sure. I would suggest that a proper analysis would depend upon the following factors, but I'm not sure how best to combine these factors.
- Whether the incentive is naturally linked to the action (i.e. monetary compensation for employment.)
- How closely the incentive is linked to necessities rather than luxuries.
- Whether the incentive represents a positive or negative change in the status quo (although this prompts a question about whether the status quo is a legitimate concept, which I'll address in a future post.)
- The magnitude of the incentive.
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