The role of author's intentions in literary interpretation

The podcast episode explores the role of author's intentions in determining the meaning of literary works. It discusses the debate between intentionalists and anti-intentionalists, focusing on whether the author's intentions directly determine the meaning of a literary work. The debate originated from the claim that using the author's intentions as a standard for interpretation can be a mistake. However, intentionalists argue that understanding the author's intentions can enhance our understanding of the work and provide valuable insights. The episode also explores alternative theories, such as conventionalism and value maximizing theories, that propose other factors, such as conventions of language and context, that influence the meaning of a work. Furthermore, it delves into the arguments put forth by intentionalists to counter the anti-intentionalist stance, highlighting the importance of the author's intentions in interpreting the work. The episode also considers the perspective that literary works may not inherently possess a definitive meaning, leading to a discussion on the concept of literary meaning itself.