An agent's intention in performing an action is their specific purpose in doing so, the end or goal they aim at, or intend to accomplish. Whether an action is successful or unsuccessful depends at least on whether the intended result was brought about. Other consequences of someone's acting are called unintentional. Intentional behavior can also be just thoughtful and deliberate goal-directedness. An agent is an autonomous entity with an ontological commitment and agenda of its own. ... An action, as philosophers use the term, is a certain kind of thing a person can do. ... Purpose is deliberately thought-through goal-directedness. ...

Legal use

In the criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of mens rea or "guilty mind" which, in addition to the required actus reus or guilty act", must be proved to establish liability for the standard crimianl offence. Exceptionally, an intention to commit a crime on its own may be a crime: see child grooming. For a country-specific discussion, see Intention in English law Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of common law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... In the criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability crime. ... The mens rea is the Latin term for guilty mind used in the criminal law. ... Actus reus is the action (or inaction, in the case of criminal negligence and similar crimes which are sometimes called acts of omission) which, in combination with the mens rea (guilty mind), produces criminal liability in common law based criminal law jurisdictions such as the United States, United Kingdom. ... Child grooming is a somewhat euphemistic term for the development of a relationship with a child by an adult for the purpose of engaging in sexual activities with the child. ... In English criminal law, intention is one of the types of mens rea (Latin for guilty mind) that, when accompanied by an actus reus (Latin for guilty act) constitutes a crime. ...

Related terms

• In the philosophy of mind, intentionality is the property of being "about" something else, or to have some subject matter, in ac ertain way. Many states of mind, such as thinking about the pyramids, are characteristically about things (in this case the pyramids). Other things, such as words and paintings, can also have kinds of intentionality. Rocks and tables, in general, do not have intentional states.

• An intension (with an s, but easily mistaken for intention with a t) is an aspect of the meaning of an expression. It is meant to contrast with extension.

Philosophy of mind is the philosophical study of the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, and consciousness. ... Intentionality, originally a concept from scholastic philosophy, was reintroduced in contemporary philosophy by the philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano in his work Psychologie vom Empirischen Standpunkte. ... // Geometry See Pyramid (geometry) Geometric shape created by connecting a polygonal base to an apex An n-sided pyramid is a polyhedron formed by connecting an n-sided polygonal base and a point, called the apex, by n triangular faces (n≥3). ... Intension refers to the meanings or characteristics encompassed by a given word. ...

References

• G. E. M. Anscombe, Intention
• Donald Davidson, Essays on Actions and Events

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