Intentional Fallacy by William K. Wimsatt

 

About Author:

William Kurtz Wimsatt was an American professor of English, literary theorist, and critic. Wimsatt is often associated with the concept of the intentional fallacy, which he developed with Monroe Beardsley in order to question the importance of an author's intentions for the creation of a work of art. 

About Intentional Fallacy:

During the time period when they authored this essay, the commonly held notion amongst people was that "In order to judge the poet's performance, we must know what he intended". And in this notion led to what is termed the " Intentional Fallacy ". However wimsatt and Beardsley argue that the intention, i.e. the design or plan in the author is neither available nor desirable for judging the success of a work of literary art. It is not available because the author will most certainly not be beside the reader. When he/she reads the text and not desirable because international fallacy as mentioned already is nothing but the author's attitude toward his work, the way he felt while writing the text and what made him write that particular piece of writing and these factors might distract the reader from deciphering the meaning from the text. 

Summary:

"The international Fallacy " is an article authored and published in 1964 by william k. Wimsatt and Monroe c. Beardsley. It's premise is that is that readers can't and should not attempt to evaluate an author's work through the author's intentions. When reading literature, specifically poetry. 

Wimsatt and Beardsley begin with five proposition to introduce readers to this concept... 

The first proposition sates that poetry does not come into existence by accident, but by an author's intention. 

The second claims that readers have no way of obtaining a reliable answer to the question of what an author meant by their poem because if the author succeeded in their writing, the poem itself is the answer. 

The third claims that poetry has meaning through the fact that it exist in the first place, and it needs no meaning outside of simply being. 

The forth states that readers can find personal meaning in relating to a poem, but readers should now attribute their personal feeling about a poem to what the author intended for the poem. 

The fifth preposition explains that if an author is able to revise their work and better achieve their original intention, this means that what they thought was their original intention was not truly their original intention. 

Example of an Intention Fallacy :

The popular example of Intentional Fallacy in the real world is when critics attempt to analyze Leonard Da Vinci's authorial intent for his popular painting, Mona Lisa. There is much debate over whether or not Da Vinci intended for the woman in the painting to appear as smiling. Furthermore, there is debate over what kind of smile the woman in the painting is exhibiting. Some think it's sly or mysterious smile, some think it is a scornful smile and there are even more interpretation beyond these. 

Mistake of Intentional Fallacy :

The mistake of intentional fallacy is assuming that anyone can ever truly understand and an author's intentions behind their work. A mistake also occurs when a reader's intentions to evaluate the work in question. 

Conclusion :

The concept of intention fallacy has greatly influenced the process of criticism in the arts. It introduce a way of thinking about art and literature that decenter the creater's intentions for their art and suggests that each person should interpret for themself, what a work of art means. Wimsatt and Beardsley with these ideas, and they asserted that once an author has created that once an author has created and published a work, it belong to the public. This means that the author's intention no longer matters when the public perceives and evaluates the work in question.