Intentionality

RELATED TERMS: Philosophy

Intentionality has a more commonsense meaning, relating to one’s intention or what means to do or to say, and a more philosophical sense, which concerns the directedness of consciousness towards its other(s), highlighting the dependence of thought upon the world, in contrast to an idealist view of the self-sufficiency of consciousness.

Both senses have value for design practices, in relation to its purposefulness (what it intends to do), on the one hand, and its ‘aboutness’, on the other hand (what it is about).

Intentionality in design concerns the purpose or function of the design as meant by its creator or as interpreted by its audience or users, two perspectives that may differ

In graphic design, intentionality is often discussed in philosophical terms, especially in relation to language (Noble and Bestley, 2011). Some philosophers argue that intentionality is characteristic of a concept or an intention.

In philosophy, intentionality is related to mental states such as remembering, believing, knowing or experiencing as well as to the concept of free will.

In phenomenology, intentionality is taken to mean that ideas are directed toward an object, with the suggestion that all conscious states are characterised by such ‘directedness’ or ‘aboutness’. Thus,

“One of the core theses of phenomenology is the claim that all consciousness is consciousness of an other-than-consciousness. Consciousness simply is this aiming at or intending an object. This is Husserl’s famous thesis of intentionality as the defining characteristic of the mental.” (Flynn, 2006)

References

Flynn, T. R. (2006). Jean-Paul Sartre. In Borchert, D. M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of philosophy. Volume 8: Price – Sextus. 2nd edn. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, pp.603-612

Noble, I and Bestley, R. (2011). Visual Research: an introduction to research methodologies in graphic design, 2nd ed. Lausanne, CH: AVA Publishing.