From William Schaberg's Writing the Big Book, Page 360-361:

Further Defining the Alcoholic

[A notable feature of "To Wives"] is Bill's attempt, once again, to provide a definitive description of the alcoholic. His earliest try, in "There Is A Solution," offered three types of drinkers. The moderate drinker is briefly described as having "little trouble giving up liquor entirely... [he] can take it or leave it." The hard drinker gets a longer paragraph, noting that he suffers more from his drinking than the moderate drinker, but with the proper negative motivation, such a man "can also stop or moderate, although he may find it difficult and troublesome." However, the real alcoholic - who is presented ina detailed, page-long paragraph - has lost "all control of his liquor consumption," "he is always more orless insanely drunk" and gradually deteriorates until he "begins to appear at hospitals and sanitariums." Bill admits this portrayal "is by no means a comprehensive picture of the true alcoholic... but this description should identify him roughly."

In "To Wives," Wilson revisits this thorny problem of formulating an accurate definition of the alcoholic and attempts to supply a more comprehensive picture in four long paragraphs, each of ehich details a different category of men who suffer from too much drinking. While the earlier distinctions centered on whether or not the three types could give up drinking, these four new categories reformulate the question, asking whether the problem drinker really wants to quit and, if so, just how badly does he want to do that? ...

In the intervening months, Bill seems to have concluded that intention rather than actual behavior might be the best was to make fruitful distinctions between the different types of drinkers...

This shift is subtle, but it resonated with Wilson and he continued to find it useful in explaining his understanding of the best path to sobriety from this point forward. For instance, in March 1941 when he published the appendix entitled "Spiritual Experience" in the second printing of the Big Book, the element of "willingness" was identified as one of three "essential" and "indispensable" factors necessary for recovery.

But, for all of Bill's effort, these new categories are still far from a comprehensive definition of the alcoholic and they clearly lack any of the scientific criteria that the medical and psychiatric professions demand as a valid diagnostic tool. Later A.A.'s, recognizing this ongoing lack of a precise definition for alcoholism, have been heard to neatly side-step the issue by noting that 'alcoholism is a disease that can only be successfully diagnosed by the patient.' It is an interesting and helpful reformulation of the problem.

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