Key Definitions
Desire: A feeling or want for something; what you wish or hope to have or experience.
Intention: A commitment or plan to act in a certain way or bring about a particular outcome. It involves directing your will toward a specific goal.
Psychological Egoism: The theory that all human actions are motivated by self-interest, even when they appear altruistic.
Altruism: The intention or action aimed at benefiting others, sometimes involving self-sacrifice, without seeking personal gain.
Egotism: An excessive focus on oneself, often disregarding others, driven by self-centered motives rather than genuine concern.
THINKING ABOUT THIS
Desire and intention are closely related but not identical concepts. Desire is what you want or hope for—it is the feeling or motivation toward a particular outcome. Intention, on the other hand, goes beyond mere wanting; it is the commitment or internal action to bring about that outcome. While desire motivates and suggests what you might aim for, intention is the active decision to pursue or implement that desire. In this sense, intention can be understood as an “acted-upon desire” or the implementing desire, while other desires remain more passive or suggestive. For example, wanting a car (desire) differs from deciding to buy a car and taking steps toward it (intention). Thus, intention involves a mental action that directs your will, distinguishing it from desire as a feeling. This distinction is crucial because it highlights that intention carries the power to move from thought to action, whereas desire alone does not.
They are so closely related that it is okay to approximate and speak of them as if they were the same. After all, an intention is an acted upon desire. 1 - As with desire, eggs that are just there are still eggs. 2 - As with intention, eggs that are boiled are eggs too.
That means we have the right to use social shorthand and say that a person helping others is doing it mostly for their own benefit.
The will involves intention and action. An internal action happens. This is intention. So intention is an action in its own right. Then what you do as a result of the intention is extending it into the world. So intention is an internal mental action. Physical action may be the result of it. Free will means you have freedom of intention that is internal action and freedom of external action. Intention is one action. The power to physically act on this action is a separate matter.
We are acting beings. Thus merely acting is a reward in a sense. It is us letting ourselves do what we are. Trying not to act is acting and is an attempt at self-abuse. Thus act always involves desire and desire is about getting something back even if it is just being able to be what you are, an acting being. Even when you do what you don't want to do you are still rewarding yourself by acting.
An act can contain its own reward. It does not have to be about a future benefit. You tend to hold that benefits give rise to potential new benefits. So you know that if the only reward you seek is in acting that you can expect future ones. That may betray a subconscious motive.
Having an intention provides a psychological reward by affirming your identity as an agent. It shows that anybody who denies they think of themselves is wrong. To be a person is to be an agent, a being who is about acting. To act is to reward yourself by being what you are, an acting being.
NOTE:
Altruism is basically the intention to sacrifice yourself and embrace suffering for others. What if intentions are not real or are illusions? You can be egoistic or egotistic without having intentions. Egoism allows for helping others for it helps me feel good or benefits me. It is not about the others. Egotism will not help others but is utterly self-centred. Animals are either egoists or egotists without having intentions. So arguably it would follow that we are all either egoistic or egotistic because we are animals ourselves.