EMPTY INTENTION. An empty intention is one that re-presents or makes present an object that is absent to consciousness. Empty intentions are contrasted with full intentions. Full intentions either present an object intuitively by containing sensuous contents that directly present a side or aspect of the object, or they present an object that, while not intuitively present, is presented with the aid of contents that are re-presented by virtue of the living present’s retention of previously experienced (erlebt) sensuous contents. Empty intentions, on the other hand, make an object present without an intuitive basis for the presentation. That is, the object is presented in a way that involves no sensuous basis. Most importantly, empty intentions present an object signitively in language, wherein the sensuous basis of the presentation is not sensuous contents presenting the determinations of the object but a sensible sign (a written or spoken word) whose signification or meaning refers to the absent object. See also HYLETIC DATA; INTUITION; SIGNIFICATIVE INTENTION; SIGNITIVE INTENTION.