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I'm reading an article about intention recognition in computing areas and somehow robotics. I came across this sentence:

This problem has been discussed as the difference between “intended and intentional action”.

But unfortunately I can't understand the difference between intended action and intentional action.

According to dictionaries:

  • intended: planned or meant
  • intentional: done on purpose; deliberate

But they are also marked as synonyms. So could someone clarify the difference between an intended action and an intentional one?

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I believe the difference lies in the achievement of an objective and the motivation for it.

If I intentionally strike you in the face, I have done something deliberate and it had an effect, which was most likely to hurt and outrage you. But I could claim that my intended action was to shoo away a wasp that was about to sting you, and that striking you in the face was an unfortunate consequence (i.e., a "by-blow") of my wish to safeguard your health.

In short, the motivation for an intended act may be at odds with its consequence. An intentional act is simply one that was deliberate, saying nothing about why it happened.

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    Intentional was successful. Intended was unsuccessful. ;)
    – SF.
    Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 12:18
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    There seems to be another aspect to the distinction WRT computing & robotics: Computers & other robots can perform intended actions but not intentional actions because computers & other robots are mechanical entities under the command of humans or system programs (that might have been created by humans directly or by meta-level computer programs that write other programs). Computers & robots aren't volitional beings, so they cannot do anything intentionally. Does this sound reasonable to you?
    – user21497
    Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 12:19
  • @BillFranke: Yes. The robots are merely proxies for whatever human is controlling them. But we're getting into hair-splitting and discussions of what is and is not free will, etc., even in human beings.
    – Robusto
    Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 12:47
  • @Robusto: I don't think so. That's too philosophical. I'm thinking of law, where the instrument of murder isn't punished but the person who intentionally wielded that instrument is punished for the intention to murder, even if the murder attempt is unsuccessful. A gun can perform the intended action, but only the trigger puller can be punished for intent to commit murder, or the possessor of more than 4 grams of pot can be punished for intent to sell. Not philosophy but statute law.
    – user21497
    Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 13:18
  • @user21497 is correct. The issue is that intention has to do with selecting an action; intended has to do with performing that action.
    – jimm101
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 13:37
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An intended action is something that was desired or preferred over an alternative.

Was that your intended selection, or did you have to settle for second best.

Intended is often used to describe outcomes.

Was that the intended result, or did you hope for better?

An intentional action is one that is deliberate as opposed to random or accidental.

When you hit the lamp with the bat, was that intentional, or did you just not see it?

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Intend (and hence intended) is a verb:

intend, v.

    1. trans. To have in the mind as a fixed purpose; to purpose, design. (The chief current sense.)

Intentional is an adjective, or (obsolete) noun:

intentional, adj. and n.

A. adj.

    1. Of or pertaining to intention or purpose; existing (only) in intention. intentional fallacy n. in literary criticism, the fallacy that the meaning or value of a work may be judged or defined in terms of the writer's intention.
    1. Done on purpose, resulting from intention; intended. Rarely of an agent: Acting with intention.

So, it would appear that if Bob killed the cat intentionally, Bob intended to kill that cat. This is called the 'Simple View', at least according to Michael Bratman.

In experiments though, this has not turned out to be the case in practice. One famous experiment (Knobe, 2003) presented people with a vignette in which a CEO, saying he didn't care about the environment, chose to make a profit knowing it would harm the environment. 82% 0f responses said he intentionally harmed the environment.

Changing the 'harm' to 'help', so the CEO said he didn't care about helping the environment, resulted in only 23% of respondents saying he intentionally helped the environment.

From this, it appears that intentionality depends to a large extent on whether the action is something to be condemned or praised, or in other words has an element of judgement in it.

This, basically, is your “intended and intentional action” reference.

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    Seems to me that the CEO didn't care despite knowing that his profit-taking would do harm: he did it anyway. In the other case, he didn't know whether his profit-taking would help or not, but he didn't express no concern about harming the environment. So his actions, as far as he was concerned, would result in either positive or neutral effects. In neither case would he deserve praise for intentionally helping the environment, but in the first case, he'd deserve condemnation for intentional harm simply because he knew the outcome would be harmful.
    – user21497
    Commented Oct 24, 2012 at 14:30
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It is not the same to use something intentionally than using it as intended. But when used as adjective the difference might not be so clear as with the adverb.

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    Your answer does not add anything new t the existing answers and is not very clear. Please edit to explain more and provide references if possible.
    – fev
    Commented Aug 30, 2022 at 13:45
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intended: you tried to hit a target (imagine an arrow (ie. "Somehow I offended him, which wasn't what I'd intended" meaning you planned consiously to move your arrow to that direction)). In short, the "intend" word idea involves movement. The energy (ie. a purpose) in the darkness is searching the light of the target, that is not seen.

Intentionally: you tried to consume a wish that involves a target (imagine a wish that makes you focus your attention to it to consume it, good or evil (ie. "There was clearly no intent to cause harm" meaning you didn't have that wish, more specifically that you planned carefully to hit that target)). In short, the "intent" word idea involves wish. The light of the target atracts the darkeness of the energy, that is seen.

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    – Community Bot
    Commented Dec 10, 2022 at 17:53
  • This adds nothing to the existing answers,
    – Chenmunka
    Commented Dec 10, 2022 at 18:19

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