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Context from the opening of Chapter I of Book I from the Critique of Practical Reason. The opening of that chapter begins with a "Definition", 5:19

Practical principles are propositions that contain a general determination of the will, having under it several practical rules.

What does "general determination" mean here? What is "contained" within practical principles? Practical rules? If so, is Kant saying that the will is founded/based/conditioned upon practical rules?

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    In this context "general determination" refers to a principle that applies universally or categorically to actions. Also he suggests practical principles encompass multiple practical rules navigating decisions in daily life. While the principle is general and abstract, the rules are more concrete and applicable to particular situations. Kant is not saying that the will is founded, based, or conditioned upon practical rules in the sense that they dictate the will's existence or essence which is autonomous, instead, practical principles serve as the foundation for moral reasoning and action...
    – Double Knot
    Commented Mar 31 at 4:01
  • Determination of the will is discussed by Yost, who describes it thus:"Practical principles determine a will when they perform their characteristic role in the will’s practical activity, that is, when they ground judgments regarding what we are to do, the ends we ought to pursue, or the way we are to deliberate." "Contain" is a term from Kant's notion of analytic judgments: B is "contained" in A when it can be extracted from A by analyzing its meaning. So general guidelines are channeled into practical principles, and those into practical rules.
    – Conifold
    Commented Mar 31 at 4:23
  • Thank you. You've given me some synonyms I can use for "determination," "something which grounds a judgment, "that which serves as a foundation." Now that I have a sense of the term, I can use that to make sense of the sentence. I also appreciate the link between "contain" and the analytic process.
    – Gerry
    Commented Mar 31 at 19:53

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I will attempt to answer my own question using the help given to me by DoubleK and Conifold. Kant means the following:

Practical principles, when we unpack what is contained within the concept, contain the concept of the will [the faculty of choice], and the will is a concept which, when we unpack it, includes practical rules that determine (influence) our choices.

Random behavior is not will because therein lies no rules, nor do natural phenomena (the wind and the rain) possess will because therein lies no choice.

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