Birth of the concept
Intention absorbed the main theses from scholasticism, which separated the mental (intentional) existence of an object and the real one. In the Middle Ages it was believed that there could be no knowledge of a subject without intervention in it. Thomas Aquinas discussed the nature of intention. He spoke about the formation of intention by the mind regarding an understood object. In the 19th century, with the light hand of psychologist F. Brentano, the concept took on a new life. He believed that consciousness is intentional, that is, directed towards what is outside itself. In other words, the concept brings meaning to consciousness. Scientists A. Meinong and E. Husserl developed in their scientific works various approaches to defining intention, which later had a significant impact on a number of areas in psychology (Gestalt psychology, personalism, and so on). Another philosopher, M. Heidegger, combined care and intentionality, believing that there is an internal connection between them. He argued that “man in his being is a being who cares about being.” If a person fails in his “being”, then he loses his possibilities.
Definition
Intention is a broad concept that can be described as the direction of thinking. The ability to think is born in every person in childhood. And it is at a young age that a child develops his own personal range of interests and a path to knowledge of the areas of interest to him. Under the influence of various internal and external factors, the baby forms his own picture of the world. He understands what is good and what is bad. Parents teach the child etiquette, competent speech and the basics of cultural behavior. By synthesizing this information, a person creates a base that he will use throughout his life. This basis is different for all people. You've probably encountered the problem that someone you know doesn't understand you, although it seems to you that you simply won't be able to explain it any more clearly. It may seem to you that the person opposite you is unimaginably stupid. But that's not true. Most likely, the direction of thinking between you and this person is very different. You look at the world differently and put different meanings into the same definition.
Intention – what is it?
There are several meanings of the term “intention”. The first explains it as “the focus of consciousness on an object.” Intentional processes include cognitive, emotional, motivational and other mental processes, since attitudes and feelings towards a subject can be different. The object of intention can really exist, or it can be invented, meaningful or absurd. The second interpretation of the concept of “intention” is presented as “goal orientation” or the target intention of an action.
In religious traditions
In Abrahamic religions, intention refers to the essence and main content of the prayer’s request to higher powers in the text of the prayer. The intention here has some dependence on the interests of the main participant in the ritual or any other persons.
Intention in prayer can have both a transcendental and mundane material character. It can be individual or group in nature.
If we talk about the intention of the prayer read by the priest during the Mass, then it will be general in content and direction, reflecting the interests, will and aspirations of all people taking part in the rite or interested in carrying it out.
This term is especially widespread among Catholics . There is even a saying, “in the intention of the Pope,” which means to perform actions in accordance with his most holy will and the interests of the holy mother church.
Intention in Judaism
In various Jewish religious traditions, the term “intention” is practically not used, but there is an equivalent equivalent – “kavana”. By kavanah, if we follow the letter of the Talmud, we should understand the special focus of a person’s heart and soul, when his whole nature is invested in some object of activity.
In prayer, it is its most integral and important part, the essence of the commandments. Jews, with the help of kavana, distinguish between the correct way to offer prayers to the Almighty from the incorrect one.
Without kavana, as the rabbis repeatedly point out, prayer is only an empty and mechanical utterance of words: “Prayer without kavana is like a lifeless body.”
Intention in Islamic reading
In Islam, as in Judaism, there is no concept of “intention”. However, as there, Islam has its own analogue in the form of the term “niyat” . Here, niyat is a special intention, goal setting, and is understood as the maximum thoughtful action or a conscious refusal of it with a clear position about the reason for this or that choice, its meaning for the subject of the activity.
Niyat is important to Islamic law. In the categories of interpretation of niyat, various human actions and crimes . It also influences the theological and legal decision on the issue of sacredness or legal significance of a particular ritual - divorce proceedings, celebration of prayer, etc.
The most important role of the concept, and what it means, when considering criminal cases within the framework of Sharia law in trials.
Intention in psychology
In this science, the term refers to the internal orientation of consciousness towards a real or fictitious object, as well as the structure that gives meaning to experiences. Intention is the ability of a person to have intentions, the ability to participate in the events of the day, changing himself. One of the aspects of the concept is the ability to perceive an object from different sides, depending on the underlying meaning. For example, when considering real estate as a summer vacation spot for a family, a person will carefully familiarize himself with such issues as comfort, equipment, and leisure activities on the territory. If the same person buys the same property, then he will first of all pay attention to the ratio of price to quality of housing. Intention is the birth of a close connection with the outside world. In situations that are difficult to perceive, a person has learned to weaken the relationship until he is ready to understand the situation.
Communicative intention
Communicative intention is the result that a person expects when uttering a certain phrase. The same communicative intention can be expressed in different words . For example, the phrases “I want to see you” and “Let’s meet” express the same intention (albeit with varying degrees of unambiguity). The ability to understand one’s own intentions and formulate phrases taking it into account allows a person to convey his thoughts to others much better.
Sometimes statements contain hidden intentions that a person is not ready to formulate directly. For example, when indoors with other people, he may suggest opening a window to let in some fresh air. However, not everyone and not always decide to make a direct request. Therefore, sometimes people simply say something like “It’s so stuffy in here!”, hoping that others will agree with this and offer to open the window themselves.
Thus, communicative intention is a certain impact that the speaker is trying to exert on the interlocutor. The result of communication largely depends on how appropriate he chose the words, as well as on how correctly his intention was understood. Therefore, when formulating your statements, it is advisable not only to be aware of your own intentions, but also to have a good understanding of the peculiarities of the interlocutor’s perception.
Psychotherapeutic technique of V. Frankl
Intention in psychology is represented by a method, the essence of which is for a person to play out his fear or neurosis in a critical situation. The technique was developed by psychologist V. Frankl in 1927 and is still successfully used in practice. The method is called paradoxical intention. An example is the life of spouses who often sort things out. The psychotherapist invites them to quarrel as loudly and emotionally as possible, thereby making the unpleasant situation controllable. Another example: a schoolboy is afraid to give a report and trembles. As part of this method, he is asked to begin to tremble violently himself, thereby relieving the tension that has arisen. The method of paradoxical intention can lead to two results: an action or situation ceases to be painful and uncontrollable, or, by switching attention to the voluntary reproduction of experiences, it weakens their negative impact.
Why do you need to study intention?
Studying psychology helps you better know yourself and others. And studying thinking, its basis and structure, and in the case of intention, its direction, is useful in order to better understand people. What manifestations of intention do you encounter every day? Have you noticed that some people often complain about their unsuccessful lives? Such people love to complain, to say that everything would be fine with them if it weren’t for this or that. Interlocutors sometimes do not understand that they live the way they want and deserve it. A successful person did not acquire his wealth immediately. He had to work hard to get a good education and a prestigious position in a growing company. Yes, in appearance it might seem that the person is not making any effort, but in fact the person is working hard. But many are accustomed to judging without knowing what is hidden behind the beautiful picture of success. Intention makes a person think about what kind of work it took for the individual to rise up. Thanks to such reflections, a person gets rid of envy and is inspired by the example of a successful person.
The essence of the psychotherapeutic method
Paradoxical intention, as a mechanism of action, considers the process of self-detachment, which allows the individual to get out of an unpleasant situation. The technique is based on the desire of the person himself to accomplish or for someone else to do (with a phobia) what he fears. The method of paradoxical intention is actively used in psychotherapy. It is especially effective when combined with humor. Fear is the body’s biological reaction to dangerous situations, and if the person himself looks for them and is able to act in spite of fear, then the negative feelings will soon disappear.
Paradoxical intention
In modern psychotherapy there is such an approach as paradoxical intention. It is used to combat fears and anxieties associated with bad experiences. The ideas underlying it were proposed by the Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler (1870-1937), and the further development of the method of paradoxical psychotherapy owes to his compatriot Viktor Frankl (1905-1997).
The essence of the method is to act towards your fears and experiences , formulating paradoxical goals. For example, a person who is afraid of speaking in front of a large audience usually begins to sweat, his voice trembles, and he feels dizzy. To cope with this, he must imagine that this is exactly his goal - to sweat, feel dizzy and speak in a very shaky voice (humorous ideas are welcome).
Next, you can try to do this in a normal environment, in which there is no reason to worry. And if you can somehow make your voice tremble, you just can’t sweat or feel dizzy. To do this you need to go on stage and perform in front of a large number of people . Actually, this is the essence of the method. Now a person needs to go on stage to achieve a specific goal. But during the performance it turns out that the experience has become much weaker, and there is no more sweating, trembling or dizziness.
Desire to speak out
In linguistics, intention is the initial stage of the birth of an utterance, followed by motive, internal pronunciation and speech.
The concept under consideration is associated with specific communicative meanings that are expressed in the process of communication. Speech intention (in a broad sense) is the merging of need, goal and motive into one, which is formed into a message through the use of communicative means. In a narrower sense, the term is considered as an effective purpose and merges with the concept of an illocutionary act. Doctor of Philological Sciences N.I. Formanovskaya considers intention as a plan to structure speech in a certain key, form, style. The difficulty in studying this term lies in the uniqueness of the experimental object, with often vague communicative intentions. Speech messages are always connected with various extralinguistic events, so any, even simple, utterance is multidimensional. Performances have a strong-willed attitude and influence the addressee. There is a concept of speech intention of disapproval, which is an integral part of communication. This is a negative manifestation that can lead the conversation into conflict.
INTENT
INTENT
(Latin intentio 'intention, plan'), the communicative intention of the speaker.
Also on the topic:
LINGUISTICS (LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS)
The term intention
introduced into modern linguistics by the followers of J. Austin, one of the creators of the theory of speech acts.
The task of the new concept was to achieve higher accuracy in the description of illocution and illocutionary function - the second level of analysis of a statement (along with the first level - locution and the third - perlocution). Thus, the locutionary aspect of the utterance Here darkly
boils down to the fact that this is an impersonal sentence, widespread by circumstance of place, pronounced with neutral intonation, etc. Intention is included in the illocutionary aspect. This could be, for example, to encourage the listener to turn on another light bulb or move to a brighter room. In addition to intention, the illocutionary aspect includes various conditions of the speech act (in particular, that both the speaker and the listener must be in a dimly lit room, both speak Russian, etc.). The perlocutionary aspect includes the correlation of a speech act with its result, i.e. determining whether the speaker actually succeeded in inducing the listener to turn on an additional light source.
The differences in the semantic compatibility of illocutionary and perlocutionary verbs are indicative. If an illocution can represent “itself” in a statement, for example: I warn you
that
it will rain
, then perlocution cannot do this.
You cannot say: * I am threatening you
that
you will be in big trouble
.
In this case, the threat can be expressed in the form of a warning: I warn you
,
if you do not show up for the competition
,
you will have an unpleasant conversation with the senior coach.
In this case, there are no formal differences between a warning and a threat that would allow one to correctly identify the speaker’s intentions.
Intention is revealed only in the context of the situation itself. It can often be determined, for example, by the speech reaction of the interlocutor: What is this
,
a threat
?
or: Thank you
for
warning me.
I thought that
the eldest would not have time to return from the States.
Existing definitions of intention emphasize its various aspects. According to the definition of logician G.P. Grice, intention is the speaker’s intention to communicate something, to convey a certain subjective meaning in an utterance. This subjective meaning is reduced to the concept expressed by the verb to imply
in the context of "
A implies something
by
saying x
."
In further development of the concept of subjective meaning, G. P. Grice defined the meaning d
of the expression
x
for the linguistic community
G
as the custom or convention of members of the community
G
to pronounce
x
, meaning
d
.
Thus, the intentions of speakers and the success of their recognition by listeners were correlated with the prevailing “agreements” in a given linguistic community regarding the meaning of certain expressions. Naturally, the condition for the success of recognizing the intention of individual
A is
his inclusion in the linguistic community
G. J. Searle added to the number of factors influencing the formation of the speaker’s intention and its recognition by the listener. He noted that when identifying the intention realized in the next speech act, both the speaker and the listener are guided by what they had previously expressed at the time of this speech act.
E. Koschmider correlates intention (intentum) as “the conceivable, contained in thought” with the signified (designatum), thus contrasting it with the designator. O.S. Akhmanova gives a definition according to which intention is understood as the potential or virtual content of a statement. In this definition, intention is contrasted with actual or expressed content.
In the psychology of speech, intention is understood as the first stage of generating a statement (A.A. Leontiev, A.M. Shakhnarovich). It is followed by motive, internal pronunciation and implementation.
In J. Hoffmanova’s interpretation, intention is identified with the purpose of the statement. If we follow the classification of utterances according to their general purpose, each of these goals can be correlated with the general intention of the speaker: to inform, to inquire about something, or to induce something. However, researchers usually do not stop at such an abstract understanding of intention. They analyze in detail the communicative intentions identified in dialogues in natural languages, and on their basis they try to compile a universal catalog of communicative intentions, suitable for many, if not all modern languages (for a catalog of communicative intentions of the Russian language, see the article by A.R. Arutyunov and P.G. Chebotarev Intentions of dialogical communication and their standard implementations
).
Communicative intention (= communicative intention) correlates with the expression of various intentional states of consciousness and, as a result, paradoxically covers a wider range of phenomena than the expression of intention (= intention) in the psychological sense - as one of such intentional states. Thus, J. Searle, following the philosophical tradition, understands by intentional states a wide range of mental states associated with the turning of consciousness outward, and not towards oneself. J. Searle distinguishes between intention and Intentionality (with a capital letter), Fr. J. Searle implements this distinction in his classification of illocutionary acts: “Intention combines promises, oaths, threats and guarantees. Desire or need covers requests, orders, commands, entreaties, intercessions, petitions and entreaties.” However, all relevant verbs are like promise
,
swear
,
threaten
,
guarantee
,
ask
,
order
,
intercede
, etc. – can, along with the designation of a speech act, name the communicative intention of the speaker.
To name intentions, not only verbs can be used (primarily verbs of speech actions), but also nouns: identification ( This is Victor
?), objection (
No
,
this is not Victor
), greeting (
Good evening
), time (
When will you come
?), refusal, attempt; coercion, offer, etc.
The concept of intention has a long history. The creators of the theory of speech acts borrowed it from the terminological apparatus of the philosophical sciences. It appeared in medieval scholasticism and denoted the intention, goal and direction of consciousness and thinking on some subject. The general rule of scholasticism was the distinction between first and second intentions. The first intention is a concept originally formed by the mind. Its object is the reality given to the human mind. The second intention is formed through the study and comparison of the first intentions. Its object is in the mind itself, representing a logical law, a form of thought, or some particular thought. Based on this distinction, Thomas Aquinas defined logic as the doctrine of second intentions. In logic itself, the major (first) premise of a syllogism is also called intention.
If intention as an act of direction of consciousness is not intended by the speaker for speech expression, then it is not a communicative intention and, accordingly, the subject of linguistic analysis. It does not follow from this that the expressed communicative intention must necessarily coincide with the actual intention of the speaker, or that the speaker always strives for the listener to recognize his actual intention. In cases of communicative failures or deliberate misleading of the listener, there is often a discrepancy between the actual intention of the speaker and the communicative intention provided by the speaker in the utterance for recognition by the listener.
Examples given by John Austin related to the discrepancy between obvious and hidden intentions or insincerity include, in particular, the following: “ I congratulate you
- in the mouth of a person who experiences not satisfaction at all, but rather even annoyance;
I sympathize with you
- from the lips of a person who has no sympathy for you;
I advise you ...
- in the mouth of a person who does not believe that following the advice will bring the best results,” etc.
Based on the generalization of “elementary” intentions realized in individual speech acts, it is possible to identify generalized system-linguistic intentional formations - intentional fields. These intentional fields combine the means used by language to express a certain intention. It is also said about the intentionality or non-intentionality of structural grammatical means of language in the sense of their participation or non-participation in the implementation of the speaker’s intentions (A.V. Bondarko).
Along with the intention of a single statement, research is being conducted into the intention of the entire text (intentional analysis of the text). In particular, the text-forming function of intention and the possibility of classifying texts according to the prevailing intention, certainty/uncertainty, expressiveness/hiddenness of intention in the text, etc. are emphasized.
These studies, in addition to the theory of speech acts, are also based on an earlier Russian tradition - the teaching of V.V. Vinogradov on the image of the author and the teaching of K.A. Sunneberg on oratorical intention. The first emphasizes the relationship between the target setting and the content of the text with the linguistic means used to express thoughts (V.V. Odintsov). The second offers a detailed classification of “types of speech” with an emphasis on the speaker’s intention in order of increasing intensity of the volitional principle (L.K. Graudina).
Among the latest developments in this area is the method of intent analysis of political texts by T.N. Ushakova, N.D. Pavlova and others.
The study of communicative intentions is of practical importance in teaching foreign languages, translation activities and in solving problems of modeling human intelligence.
Leon Ivanov
see also
SPEECH ACT.
The meaning of speech messages. Types of intention
It is necessary to identify the purpose of the addressee’s statement taking into account the relationship of the interlocutors. There are different typologies of illocutionary goals. For example, Professor E. A. Krasina developed the following provisions:
- The assertive goal is expressed in the urge to “say how things are.” The most frequently used statements are “I report”, “I admit” and others.
- Commissive carries with it the task of “obliging the speaker to do something.” In this case, “I promise”, “I guarantee” and so on are often pronounced.
- A directive goal involves trying to “get someone else to do something.” This type includes statements “I ask”, “I recommend”, “I order” and others.
- Declarative has the task of “changing the world.” Statements of recognition, condemnation, forgiveness, and naming are often used.
- The expressive goal seeks to “express feelings or attitudes about a state of affairs.” In this case, the verbs “sorry”, “regret”, “welcome” and so on are used.
Some psychologists and philologists distinguish between two types of intention. The first personifies the focus of human consciousness on the surrounding reality with the goal of accepting, cognizing, and explaining. This type of phenomenon is called cognitive. Communicative intention is the orientation of consciousness towards achieving a intended goal, for the sake of which a person enters into a conversation or leaves it.
The difference between intention and desire
To correctly understand what intention is, it is important to learn to distinguish it from desire. Desire is a person’s attraction to something, based on simple instincts, the desire for pleasure or satisfaction. Intention is a desire that has a certain plan, intention, strategy of action. For example, if a person wants to have his own home, this is a desire. But when a plan is built around this desire (to save the required amount, buy a plot of land and build a house with certain characteristics), it turns into an intention.
Thus, intention has two main differences from desire:
- It represents a certain plan of action (not just a desire to get something, but an intention to get it in a certain way).
- It is more specific (not just satisfying a need, but satisfying it in a certain form).
For example, “I want a car” is a simple desire. But “I’ll buy a used car, learn to drive, then buy a specific model” - this is already an intention. A person understands what he is striving for, plans his actions and specifies the final goal. Similarly, the phrase “I want housing” is a desire, and the reasoning “I’ll save money, buy a plot in the village and build a house with a swimming pool and a library” is already a specific and purposeful intention.
Text and intention
When writing books or articles, the writer relies on a general concept that he himself has defined. The idea of a work is called “author’s intention.” The combination of speech and author's intentions expresses the writer's worldview. To designate it, concepts such as a picture and model of the world, concept, point of view, image of the author, text modality, and so on are used. For example, the image of a writer is formed from his opinion about certain areas of life, the image of the narrator and characters, as well as from the compositional and linguistic structure of the text. The author’s attitude towards objects, his perception of surrounding people and events form a “model of the world”, which does not contain a reflection of objective events. Therefore, we can conclude that the writer’s view remains unchanged and considers the actions in the work only from one side. The reader also forms his own view of the author’s work.
Intentional processes
All people think differently. One person likes to delve into the essence of the problem, another prefers to look at the problem in general, without going into details. What processes take place in a person’s brain when he directs his thinking to some object or goal.
- Emotionality. Emotions help a person understand whether he likes an object or object of contemplation or reflection. If you like it, then you can continue studying or communicating. If something is unpleasant to a person, he will try to get rid of the negative thought or the horrifying object of contemplation as soon as possible.
- Motivation. Intention is the direction of thinking. It would not exist if a person did not have motivation. The desire to see something, go somewhere and do something is the main thing in a person’s healthy life.
- Cognition. A person strives for knowledge, and it helps him to better understand this world and the people living in it. Books also form a worldview and a picture of the world. They help a person gain passive experience, without spending any resources other than temporary ones.
Generalizing knowledge
A holistic personality is characterized by an individual attitude to the world, the initial components of which are the experience of one’s situation, the reflection of emerging emotions in appropriate images, as well as the birth of a program aimed at preserving and developing a person. To successfully implement a personal plan, the desire and intention of the individual is necessary. Focus on results and analysis of necessary actions are the main steps in achieving what you want. And the opportunity to reformulate your attitude towards a problematic situation opens the door to a calm and successful life.
