towardness

Towardness is a theoretical term used to describe the quality or state of being oriented toward a target, goal, or direction. In philosophy of action, cognitive science, and related fields, towardness captures how strongly an agent’s behavior is directed at achieving a specific outcome, beyond mere movement through space.

Etymology: The term is a coinage from toward and the suffix -ness, signaling a state or property. It is not widely standardized, and usage varies by discipline.

In practice, towardness is often operationalized as a measure of goal-directedness. In robotics and AI, towardness can be quantified as the rate at which distance to a goal decreases, or as the alignment between an action and the goal vector. In psychology, it relates to the motivational and intentional aspects that guide behavior toward a desired end.

In philosophy, towardness is discussed as part of intentionality and teleology, distinguishing purposeful action from random or reflexive movement. Some researchers prefer terms like goal-directedness or intentionality to avoid ambiguity or overgeneralization.

Examples and relations: A drone steering toward a waypoint shows rising towardness as the path converges with the target. The concept overlaps with related ideas such as goal-directed behavior, motivation, directionality, and teleology, and it can be contrasted with non-directed or exploratory behavior.

See also: goal-directed behavior, intentionality, motivation, directionality, teleology.