Intentionality
The Basic Idea
What does it mean to be human? Is it the bodies that carry us or the minds in our heads? Is it the emotions we feel or the experiences we have? Like most of us, thinking about what it means to be human might send you spiralling down a deep train of thought.
Intentionality refers to the ability of one’s mind to represent something. It is mostly ascribed to mental states, such as perceptions, beliefs, and desires.1 In discussions of the human mind, consciousness and intentionality are often central phenomena. Intentionalism has even become its own area of study.2 Intentionalism, also known as representationalism, refers to the belief that the nature of one’s conscious mental state is determined by its intentionality.3
An unconscious consciousness is no more a contradiction in terms than an unseen case of seeing.
– Franz Brentano, founder of intentionalism and author of Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
