The resurrection of the author

Abstract

In The Resurrection of the Author, Daniel Trainor-McKinnon supports a form of intentionalism by arguing that intentions and meaning are metaphysically separate from artworks. This form of intentionalism is what he calls externalist intentionalism, which is the theory of art interpretation that holds that intentions are often relevant (though not always necessary) to understanding artworks. Because it holds this, externalist intentionalism is an adequate response to both the anti-intentionalist objection that artists' intentions are inadmissible in critical examinations of artworks because they are external to those artworks, and the neo-Wittgensteinian intentionalist claim that intentions are internal properties of artworks. A consequent study of allusion shows that some features of art are dependent on intentions for their existence and correct interpretation, while a concluding section examines externalist intentionalism's compatibility with evaluative criticism.