Intention is the mental map by which agents structure future-directed action around a goal. Parameters: (1) representational content — a model of a desired state of affairs; (2) directional force — the map guides behavior toward its content; (3) hierarchical embedding — intentions nest within broader intentions, forming plans. The concept persists through language (the vocabulary of aims, purposes, and motives), through social coordination (attributing intention to others is fundamental to trust and blame), and through disciplines that refine it — from moral philosophy's treatment of mens rea to cognitive science's models of goal-directed computation. Intention is not the psychological event itself (that is territory); intention as an entry denotes the category humans built to pick out, debate, and teach about forward-looking agency.
[formal: intentio | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]