  In the canonical literature intentional acts are often assimilated to karmic tendencies in such a way as to suggest that intentions or  volitions (cetanā) are not separate from the  propensities generated by past experience. Abhidharma traditions, on  the other hand, operate with the assumption that all cognitions are  inherently intentional. Indeed, for the Vaibhāṣika all  types of consciousness are intentional: they are about an object that must necessarily exist. However, a detailed account of intentionality is only found in later philosophical developments associated with the Buddhist logico-epistemological school of Dignāga and  Dharmakīrti (see   §7.3).  