I don’t think intentionality is nearly as important as most people think. Rather, it is actions that really matter. Actions affect others and the world, regardless of intent.
I heard in the news the other day that Turkey is having a fit because France has made it law that people in France cannot deny that Turkey committed genocide against the Armenian people. The newscaster went on to say that Turkey admits to killing a large number of Armenians, but steadfastly denies that it was genocide. Is the term “genocide” really so important that it can make the historical slaughter of large numbers of an ethnic group significant or not?
This is the same with so-called “hate crimes”. If you attack an individual for reasons specific to that individual or for reasons of convenience, that is somehow substantially different than attacking an individual due to some bigotry of the group that individual happens to belong to?
I can see that intentionality matters in terms of regular accidents (e.g., a car crash in icy conditions), but in terms of war or other acts of violence, intentionality should be irrelevant, but is instead used by as complete justification, as if a lack of intent to specifically kill the individuals who died completely excuses “collateral damage” in the case of missiles, drone strikes, carpet-bombing and other weapons of mass destruction.
That said, a mindful intentionality can help reduce the negative effect of one’s actions. If one deeply considers the effects of one’s [unintentional or habitual] actions, then one can change behavior to minimize unintended negative effects.
