Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Meaning of Authorial Intention

Abstract

<p>This thesis is a hermeneutical investigation of the significance of the concept of authorial intention in relation to the ontological structure of the literary work of art. I argue that tensions arising from the way in which mainstream philosophical hermeneutics--represented here by Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur--has sought to construe the role of an author's intention in relation to the world of meaning to which a literary work of art has the potential to give rise tend to obscure the ontological significance of the relationship between meaning and intention. I contend that if we are to understand the ontological significance of this relationship we must begin by articulating a hermeneutic ontology in terms of intentionality.</p> <p>Chapter One begins with some preliminary considerations concerning some of the peculiar characteristics of the work of art that distinguish it from other products of human making. I then take up in detail the way in which Gadamer has sought to construe the ontological structure of the work of art within the context of his philosophical hermeneutics. Chapter Two examines Gadamer's analysis of the inseparability of interpretation from the moments in which the literary work of art is created and constituted. Through a critical examination of the way in which Gadamer articulates the interpretive dimension of artistic creation I suggest that Gadamer's understanding of the ontological structure of the work of art leaves little room for making sense of the essential moment of agency which is, I maintain, inseparable from artistic creation. In Chapter Three I begin with an analysis of the way Paul Ricoeur has attempted to articulate the relationship between artistic creation and the interpretive possibilities to which the work of art has the potential to give rise. I suggest that Ricoeurfs emphasis on the moment of agency involved in writing offers us some insight into a way we might recuperate the concept of authorial intention within the context of hermeneutic ontology. Pursuing a line of inquiry that Ricoeur's analysis vaguely intimates, I suggest that understanding the meaning of authorial intention must begin with an ontological analysis of intentionality.</p>