Intention

Intention is a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.

Definition

Folk psychology explains human behavior on the basis of mental states, including beliefs, desires, and intentions. Mental mechanisms, including intention, explain behavior in that individuals are seen as actors who have desires and who attempt to achieve goals that are directed by beliefs. Thus, an intentional action is a function to accomplish a desired goal and is based on the belief that the course of action will satisfy a desire.

There is also a theoretical distinction between intentionality (intentional actions), and a mental state of intention for the future. Searle (1983) labeled these as intention-in-action and prior intention respectively. Prior intentions reflect forethought about intentions-in-action; prior intentions do not need to be carried out to be considered intentions. An unfulfilled intention is a prior intention that has no action associated with it.

Intention (criminal law)

In criminal law, intent is one of three general classes of mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability crime. A more formal, generally-synonymous legal term is scienter: intent or knowledge of wrongdoing.

Definitions

Intent is defined in R v Mohan as "the decision to bring about a prohibited consequence."

A range of words represents shades of intent in criminal laws around the world. The mental element, or mens rea, of murder, for example, is traditionally expressed as malice aforethought, and the interpretations of malice, "maliciously" and "wilfully" vary between pure intent and recklessness depending on the jurisdiction in which the crime was committed and the seriousness of the offence.

A person intends a consequence they foresee that it will happen if the given series of acts or omissions continue, and desires it to happen. The most serious level of culpability, justifying the most serious levels of punishment, is achieved when both these components are actually present in the accused's mind (a "subjective" test). A person who plans and executes a crime is considered, rightly or wrongly, a more serious danger to the public than one who acts spontaneously (perhaps because they are less likely to get caught), whether out of the sudden opportunity to steal, or out of anger to injure another. But intent can also come from the common law viewpoint as well.

Intention (book)

Intention is a 1957 book by the philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe.

Summary

Anscombe argues that the concept of intention is central to our understanding of ourselves as rational agents. The intentions with which we act are identified by the reasons we give in answer to questions concerning why we perform actions. Such reasons usually form a hierarchy that constitutes a practical syllogism of which action itself is the conclusion. Hence our actions are a form of active practical knowledge that normally leads to action. Anscombe compares the direction of fit of such knowledge to a shopping list's relation to one's purchases, and contrasts it with the direction of fit characteristic of a list of those purchases made by someone observing one shopping. She contends that the mistake of post-medieval philosophy is to think that all knowledge is of the latter kind.

Scholarly reception

Intention initiated extensive discussion of intentional action and its explanation.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Prey (disambiguation)

Prey are organisms attacked and eaten by other organisms.

Prey may also refer to:

Literature

Computing

Entertainment

Film

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Prey (Star Trek: Voyager)

"Prey" is the 84th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, the 16th episode of the fourth season.

Overview: A member of Species 8472 captured by the Hirogen penetrates Voyager.

Plot

The Federation starship Voyager discovers an injured Hirogen who is in the middle of an intense hunt for what is a formidable and dangerous prey even for Hirogen standards. He is brought in to Sickbay for treatment, but is eager to get back out and track down his trophy prey. Before he is able to do so, the prey alien invades Voyager. It is a tough, armored, telepathic, insectlike creature that the Borg have designated Species 8472.

The Hirogen hunter is allowed to hunt for 8472 under Chakotay's supervision. The Hirogen starts attacking an unresponsive 8472 without hesitation. He refuses an order to stand down and battles with his Starfleet escort before being stunned and subdued; he is subsequently confined in sickbay. As the crew later approach the seriously injured 8472, it telepathically communicates with the Vulcan tactical officer Tuvok, pleading to be rescued from the hunter and returned to its home, which is a different dimension known as "fluidic space." Meanwhile, a number of Hirogen vessels surround Voyager threatening to destroy them unless 8472 is beamed over. Nevertheless, Captain Janeway immediately orders Seven of Nine to help the alien return to its home territory, hoping to open the door to peaceful contact with its species. Seven refuses to comply, believing the protection of the hated and feared alien is not worth facing imminent destruction at the hands of the Hirogen. She informs Janeway that the approaching Hirogen ships will destroy Voyager unless 8472 is turned over, and a lesson in compassion will do her no good if she is dead.

Prey (software)

Prey is a freemium web service for tracking and monitoring laptop and desktop computers, smartphones and other electronic devices capable of running software applications, mainly intended to help in cases of theft. The service is hosted by servers on the Internet, to which an open-source software agent on the tracked computer connects. The host can signal the agent, prompting it to reply with information about its current location, and can trigger various other actions. The user can log into the Prey site if the tracked device is stolen, and request information about its location.

Prey runs on most versions of Microsoft Windows (except Windows Mobile and Windows Phone), Linux, Android, OS X and iOS. The computer version of the Prey agent is written primarily in Bash, while the mobile counterparts are written in their native languages, Java and Objective-C.

All of the client-side source code is published on GitHub and distributed under the GNU General Public License; the server code is proprietary, although an open source version is available for public use.