ABSTRACT
Intentionality is the connection between a state of mind (a mental state), its expression or representation (signifier), and that to which it refers (referent). Historians regard intentionality as one of the central features of historical explanation and specifically of the study of causation. The British philosopher-historian R.G. Collingwood, for example, stressed that historians seek out the thought behind the action in order to get at the truth that lies in the past. While the second-hand nature of history means that observation of the evidence does not permit the real character of events or processes and individual actions to be known through the deployment of inference, historical explanation demands historians give a plausible and supported account of agent intentionality (and the extent of free will). To be truthful in history we are expected to seek the correspondence between the mind and the fact. This requires that we explain the reasons why, for example, Stalin wanted to put Leon Trotsky on trial, why Harry S. Truman in March 1947 promulgated the doctrine that bears his name, why Hitler invaded Poland, why the Nazis acted as they did toward Europe’s Jewish population, and why the cold war occurred. Historians should, therefore, understand the motivation, purposes and intentions of individuals before adequate explanations of events (see EVENT) and processes can be made.
