Publication Date
1-2002
Description
In a recent article, ‘An Epistemic Dilemma for Actual Intentionalism’, Saam Trivedi argues that the way we ought to interpret artworks is best understood using the model proposed by hypothetical intentionalism. Trivedi alleges that actual intentionalism faces a serious dilemma, the upshot of which is that actual intentionalists must choose between redundancy and indeterminacy. Largely on the basis of this dilemma, he concludes that even if actual intentionalism is descriptively accurate, it is prescriptively untenable. In this essay, I focus on this alleged dilemma and argue that, contra Trivedi, it fails to undermine the prescriptive legitimacy of moderate actual intentionalism. That is, Trivedi's dilemma does not offer us a good reason to refrain from working to understand works of art under the methodological guidance of actual intentionalism.
Journal
British Journal of Aesthetics
Volume
42
Issue
1
First Page
64
Last Page
72
Department
Philosophy
Link to Published Version
https://bjaesthetics.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/1/64.abstract
Recommended Citation
Lintott, Sheila. "When Artists Fail: A Reply to Trivedi." British Journal of Aesthetics (2002) : 64-72.
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