Active Powers

In 18th and 19th century Scottish common sense philosophy, the term
"active powers" refers to the capacities of impulse and desire which
lead to or determine human action. It is distinguished from
intellectual powers which involve the capacities of reasoning, judging
and conceiving.

The distinction is derived from Aristotle's analysis of the capacities
or powers of living beings into nutrition, appetite, perception,
movement, and reason. Of these, reason is held to be peculiar to
humans. However, in humans, appetite (including desire, sensuous
impulse, and will) partakes of reason in the sense of being able to
obey it. For Aristotle, the distinction between moral and intellectual
virtues rests on the distinction between appetitive and purely
rational functions of humans. Aristotle's fivefold distinction of
powers was adopted by Aquinas, but he discussed in detail only the
intellectual and appetitive powers – the latter including desire and
will.

Thomas Reid gave currency to this dual division in the late 18th
century, especially in his two books Essays on the Intellectual Powers
of Man (1785) and Essays on the Active Powers of Man(1788). Under the
heading of "active powers" Reid further distinguished the will from
principles of action, the latter of which included (1) mechanical
principles of instinct and habit, (2) animal principles such as
appetite and desire, (3) and rational principles such as duty and
rectitude.