The intentional fallacy. The Intentional Fallacy: Defending Myself on JSTOR 2022-10-04
The intentional fallacy
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The intentional fallacy is a concept in literary criticism that refers to the belief that the meaning or significance of a work of art can be determined by examining the artist's intention or motivation behind creating it. This concept was first introduced by W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley in their 1946 essay "The Intentional Fallacy," in which they argued that an artist's intention should not be used as a guide for interpreting a work of art.
According to Wimsatt and Beardsley, the intention of the artist is subjective and cannot be objectively verified. Therefore, using the artist's intention as a basis for interpreting a work of art is inherently flawed. Instead, they argued that the meaning of a work of art should be determined by examining the work itself and considering its formal elements, such as its structure, language, and symbols.
One of the main reasons that Wimsatt and Beardsley argued against using the artist's intention as a guide for interpretation is that it can be misleading. For example, an artist may have a specific intention in mind when creating a work of art, but the final product may be interpreted differently by different people. In this case, the artist's intention may not accurately reflect the meaning of the work as it is understood by others.
Furthermore, the intentional fallacy can also lead to a kind of "author worship," where the artist is seen as the ultimate authority on the meaning of their work. This can be problematic because it ignores the fact that the work of art exists independently of the artist and can be interpreted in various ways by different people.
Overall, the intentional fallacy highlights the importance of considering a work of art on its own terms, rather than relying on the artist's intention as a guide for interpretation. By examining the formal elements of a work and considering its cultural and historical context, we can arrive at a more nuanced understanding of its meaning and significance.
The Intentional Fallacy by William K. Wimsatt
Even if an author says "This is what I meant the word to mean," as Hart Crane did in his famous explication of "At Melville's Tomb" for, as it happens, Harriet Monroe, that will not make the word mean what he wants it to mean. The form of epic poetry, the meter, quotations etc. But you see "nothing at stake". In fact most of them don't understand what landed them in Hell and so they end up, by way of a kind of compulsion complex, repeating the things that caused their downfall. To base the whole burden of explaining the intricacies and subtleties of a poem solely on acts of intentionality is out of place; at the same time, to dismiss intentionality entirely, as a 'fallacy', is equally narrow-minded, and goes head first into mysticism, which I do welcome in healthy, decent doses. Most of the time the text is much more deep, rich and perplexing than the writer thought. Two scholars of the twentieth century New Critics, William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, organized the anti-intentional side into an essay titled The Intentional Fallacy.
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The intentional fallacy and affective fallacy : Thinking Literature by Shyam
Why break the line here instead of there? The actual lyrics of th An interrogative fallacy - 'whose opinion matters more, the person who produces the work or the person who consumes it? According to Reginald's I. This is none other than to seek his intention. If I have to suffer through New Criticism, I am at least going to give myself credit for it here. In government, while it may not be called the same, intentional fallacy is also a philosophy some have subscribed to. You have said they do.
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The Intentional Fallacy: Summary & Concept
The apparent content of a work is the internal evidence, including any historical knowledge and past expertise or experience with the kind of art being interpreted: its forms and traditions. To bring this about he chooses and arranges linguistic conventions shared with the reader in the hopes that the reader will read and understand, i. But since associated meanings are merely generalizations from utterances in specific contexts, these associations cannot predict or determine the meaning of any particular utterance precisely because they are determined by particular utterances. Origin of the Intentional Fallacy The idea of the intentional fallacy was introduced by W. What if the work intended to be bad? So I ask literature professors to do a simple thing: lift the taboo against talking about the author in class.
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The Intentional Fallacy: Defending Myself on JSTOR
It does not matter what I say, or which way, very few know, and fewer care to. But it's a strange way to carry on an argument. Can you count without fingers? Then there's another, more general sense of "intention," as for example if we were to ask, "What were Shakespeare's intentions in writing Sonnet 73"? To aim at another goal is to dishonor the author by ignoring why he wrote. As Mandelstam put it, "the word is Psyche". Perhaps I meant to write a sincere love poem, but the poem turned out to be bathetic or unintentionally comical.
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On the Intentional Fallacy by Reginald Shepherd
As a writer, I cannot imagine anything justifying my own poetic efforts except the extent to which the language on the page expresses my intention. There is indeed something which sets the production of poetic meaning and effect apart from standard language usage. It's not as if you "intended" to brush your teeth, but accidentally copied a page from the phone book instead. Someone will probably counter that the prominence of social media allows modern writers, such as J. Derek had primed them for the visit by having them memorize the magnificent "My Sad Captains" - dutifully done. Derek then had the group recite the poem in front of T. What is not actually contained in the work itself is external.
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The Intentional Fallacy
We can tell that he intended this by reference to period usage, the context in which the passage occurs dead tree boughs are compared to the choirs , and so on. For all the objects of our manifold experience, especially for the intellectual objects, for every unity, there is an action of the mind which cuts off roots, melts away context—or indeed we should never have objects or ideas or anything to talk about. However, many literature professors have taken an extreme position that authorial intent should never be considered, ever. The actual lyrics of the song, when translated to English, tell the story of a woman facing her demise, seeking to prove that life does not end with death. Simply to repeat an assertion is not to argue for it. His own ego-based choices about what he likes and doesn't like. Not all agree that the philosophy of intentional fallacy is correct or good.
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The Intentional Fallacy and the Meaning of Textual Meaning
According to Joseph, this contract is one of complete control. Something I've found that almost all lit-crit writers get completely wrong about Cage, perhaps from not having read his books or actually performed his compositions, is that it isn't really all about chance. Statements made privately or published in journals about the work, or in conversations, e-mail, etc. This essay is instrumental--its purpose is to convey information and a point of view. This doesn't mean making an effort to more fully appreciate an artifact is without value.
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11+ Intentional Fallacy Examples in Media, Real Life, Politics, News & Ads 2022
I am really much more interested in certain theories of metaphor and technique involved generally in poetics, than I am concerned in vindicating any particular perpetrations of my own. I don't agree completely. Yes, Reginald's "intentional Fallacy" is even older - but he provided some context, some evidence as to how these sources are still relevant. Must you watch around corners— go left not right? My own view based on experience also is a little different. Tiny was literally haunting me—appearing to me in sweaty dreams; nagging me each time I heard that another old acquaintance had passed away of AIDS. Forster quoted a lady as saying 'How can I tell what I think till I see what I say.
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The Intentional Fallacy Is Not a Fallacy
This post incorporates some of my prior responses to comments on that earlier post into an extended discussion of the matter of authorial intention. But there are limits to that process, limits inherent in the text itself. You cannot really think about other people. I believe him when he says that he intended no disrespect, but surely he is aware that beginning a conversation with a sigh -- "Ah, Reginald" -- occurs in a culture where sighing connotes condescension, however affectionate and generally respectful the sigher may feel toward the sigh-ee. Besides, is there really such a thing as unintentional writing? Smoke gives her wings. There is no direct path from the art-work to its "meaning". Does that, in turn, justify the vague aggression of your tone? As I see it, the poet, in writing a poem, starts with 1, and enters into a sort of contract or interaction with 2 and 3.
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