It is clear why the question arises: "Intentions - what is it?" Because now there are too many words, a large number of terms and definitions borrowed, and if so, then I want to understand my language more deeply, and this desire is commendable. So let's get started.
Meaning
Intentions are the desires of a person that have become something more than empty dreams, these are some intended actions on the way to the goal.
Perhaps there is already an inner plan for their implementation. In the modern world, even the Russian-speaking one, “intention” is replaced by the word “motivation”. And when they talk about low or high motivation, you can understand whether this is a firm intention or an empty dream. True, the words “desire” and “intention” are often used interchangeably by people, so we can talk about different levels of determination in this case. But linguistic discussions are dry without vivid examples. Let's move on to them.
Illustration of intent
Petrov saw for the first time in his life on TV the summer Olympicgames and suddenly wanted to become an athlete. At the same time, Petrov realizes that his physical form is far from ideal, his stomach is too big and his arms are too thick. But he does not despair, on the contrary, the boy, full of determination, with pleas and whims, made his parents go with him to a sports store and buy him suitable equipment. We do not know this for sure, but most likely, Petrov will succeed, because he took concrete steps towards the goal.
An example of an inactive desire
Another student - Sidorov. Just like Petrov, he watched the Summer Olympics and suddenly also suddenly wanted to become an athlete. He informed all his relatives about this and said that tomorrow he would go to the sports section to sign up, they are trying to extinguish his ardor and say that, in fact, summer is in the yard, and all sections are closed. But the guy is relentless. Parents, of course, are happy that their son decided to go in for sports, but also a little anxious, because before he did not show such zeal and terribly loved sweet cakes, but now they will have to be abandoned.
But don't let the adults worry, because the days go by, and Sidorov is in no hurry to visit either the athletics section or the gym. It turns out that his intentions are just empty dreams. All day long he lies on the couch and dreams of the laurels of the winner of the Olympics.
As you wish, but we cannot consider this a serious plan for the future. By the way, the difference in the behavior of two schoolchildren brings us close to the question of what can replace the word "intention". What is his synonym?
Is a dream always empty?
There are several contenders for the title "Synonymous with Intention". Let's announce the whole list:
- Dream.
- Plan.
- Idea.
- Design.
We used to think that a dream is something airy, light and, let's face it, has little to do with reality. But this is not the opinion of A. G. Maklakov, the author of a textbook on general psychology, he believes that a dream is an image of a future result. Therefore, dreamers are not such lost people as it is commonly thought. But seriously, "dreams" is not a good synonym for "intentions." It's too lightweight for the average person. And the author's interpretation of this or that concept is always possible, but not necessarily in demand and understanding among the masses.
The next contender is the "plan". From this word emanates reliability and stability. If "intention" can be replaced by "plan", then rest easy, a person's aspirations are serious. But the "plan" can only be a partial substitute, because the plan already presupposes some specific actions on the way to the goal. The intention may never come true.
"Idea" and "intention" as synonyms. An idea in terms of style is lightweight, but you should not underestimate it, because a person who says: “I have an idea” can be very serious and right tomorrow will begin to bring to life the image that arose in his head with terrible force. On the whole, both “idea” and “intention” express the same essence as “intention” and have the same content. But do not rush to mindlessly replace one with another, because in the language a lot depends oncontext and style. Maybe neither "intention" nor "idea" is a suitable replacement.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Let's move on to the philosophical part of our fascinating story. It remains to make out why good intentions are so bad? Unfortunately, you can't just answer here.
Every person has their own ideas about good and evil, good and bad. And usually people do something based on these same values. But since each representation has its own, they inevitably come into conflict, and sometimes even into a clinch with each other.
Of course, hell is mentioned in the expression in a metaphorical sense. The same was meant by J.-P. Sartre when he wrote that "hell is others". The divergence in the idea of good and evil gives rise to the underworld of human relations, in which everyone suffers incessantly.
However, these philosophical considerations are difficult to understand without a concrete example. Please. The guy is friends with the girl, but his mother believes that the young woman does not suit him. And mother wants to quarrel young people with all her might, intrigues, in general, behaves not very worthy. But in the view of the parent, she does her son a favor, because she wants him only "good". Mom is interested in having a “good”, in her understanding, daughter-in-law, and her son wants happiness. Their ideas do not match - hell arises. But you can’t argue that mom’s intentions are good, but they don’t bring anything good.
So, we have analyzed the meaning of the word "intention", as well as itssynonym. We have analyzed the phraseological unit “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, we hope the reader was not too bored.
