Now that "motivation" has been brought up again - by me - I want to
offer my old Scottish dictionary definitions test. For those who
haven't seen this reference, this dictionary originated in 1880 and
has the beauty of being "pre-psychology" as we know it. Therefore,
its definitions are, in a certain sense, clean.
Looking to see what was said about "motivation" before current
reductionist and mechanistic psychology took hold, I was delighted to
find that _the word isn't in the dictionary_.
"Motive" is there as in reason for doing something and even "the
force which causes action". But no "motivation" - as in "something
that is done to make something happen".
Anything which is for the purpose of motivation should be suspect and
talk of motivation is a signal that power, force and manipulation are
being considered.
-- Michael McMaster <Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk>