About The Will Project Historical Archive

Updated: January 16, 20242 minutes read

Welcome to The Will Project Historical Archive. This site serves as a permanent, open digital archive preserving research papers, training manuals, working notes, and conceptual frameworks produced by The Will Project between 2006 and 2026.

Looking for the Active, Modern Will Project?

This repository is an archival collection preserving historical materials. For active training courses, community initiatives, new publications, and current projects, visit our main website at willproject.org →

Historical archival photograph and banner of The Will Project
The Will Project — Historical Archive Preservation (2006–2026)

Origins and Historical Context

The Will Project traces its philosophical and psychological roots to Italian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. Roberto Assagioli (1888–1974), the founder of psychosynthesis. In the closing years of his life, following the 1973 publication of his seminal treatise The Act of Will, Assagioli proposed an international “Program of Research on the Will and Its Applications.”

Assagioli recognized that modern psychology had extensively explored instincts, the unconscious, pathology, and cognition, but had largely neglected or negated the central organ of human agency: the Will. His vision was to establish an interdisciplinary, collaborative initiative that would:

  1. Gather and synthesize all existing literature, historical theories, and scientific studies on volition.
  2. Develop and test practical methods for training and strengthening the will in everyday life.
  3. Apply the skillful and good will to education, psychotherapy, medicine, organizational leadership, and international relations.

The 1998 Congress & The Digital Archive Era (2006–2026)

Assagioli’s vision was carried forward by subsequent generations of psychosynthesis practitioners and educators. Notably, during the International Congress of Psychosynthesis in Canada (September 1998), a dedicated Co-creative Working Group convened to draft modern project outlines, curricula, and applications of the will.

In 2006, The Will Project digital initiative was launched online by Graeme Wilson to centralize these materials, publish annotated bibliographies, compile study guides, and make Assagioli’s volitional concepts freely accessible worldwide. Over two decades, the site accumulated:

  • Over 90 detailed research articles, book digests, and historical monographs.
  • Systematic analyses of the Nature of the Will, the Seven Qualities, and the Six Stages of Volition.
  • Practical guides on psychological journaling, exercises, and the training of the will.
  • In-depth biographical profiles of pioneering thinkers who investigated the will (including Abraham Maslow, William James, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Roberto Assagioli).

Archival Scope and Editorial Notes

The documents in this archive are historical records. They represent the thinking, collaborative working notes, and state of research as compiled between 2006 and 2026. Certain sections (such as working group suggestions) reflect informal conference brainstorming notes and have been preserved intact with explicit source framing to maintain historical integrity.

Visitors are invited to explore the foundational texts and study materials freely for academic research, personal reflection, and historical inquiry.

Key Archive Pathways