The Role of Intention in Ethical Values

Despite the clear understandings on intention in common law and its ethical value in religious texts, its effect has rarely been investigated. This article is intended to analyze the concept of intention and its effect at two levels. At the first level, behavior has been limited to physical type and then it has been equated with intention and the final conclusion is drawn that intention plays a role in the actualization of a voluntary act and can determine the value of the voluntary act according to the perfection level achieved by the doer and his intention and its scope is determined by the behavior. At the second level, the voluntary act has been generalized to the verbal one, so the conclusion drawn is that the intention, as an internal and voluntary act is the external manifestation of the physical acts, and is the only thing which basically has non-ethical value.By applying the Islamic theology and philosophy, this article has proved its claim through logical approaches and in the end; some verses of Quran and narrations of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) have been quoted to support the conclusion.