Philosophy and the Arts: Lecture 22:

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Philosophy and the ArtsLecture 22
The Artists Intention
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The Poets Corner
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Ode to Betty Hodgden

• This may seem an odd place to begin. Arent we
  supposed to be talking about the famous essay on
  The Intentional Fallacy by Wimsatt and
  Beardsley?? Yes, we are.
• But when I was a student, I had a mad crush on my
  English teacher, and took every course she
  taught. I had to go see the Poets Corner,
  because I hung on her every word, as she
  described the great poets, and she would always
  conclude by saying, and he was buried in the
  Poets Corner.
• Why did she do that?? Clearly, she thought that
  if I understood the life of the poet, I could
  better grasp his intentionsand that seemed
  essential if I wanted to understand or evaluate
  his work.

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Beardsley disagrees.

• In their essay, Wimsatt and Beardsley argue that
  the artists intention does not determine the
  goodness of an art work, nor does it always
  provide the best, or proper, interpretation. Why
  not??
• For one thing, we dont always know the artists
  intentionconsider the Lascaux cave paintings, or
  the artist may be dead (sadly, many are.)

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But there is a better reason

• It is important to note that Wimsatt and
  Beardsleyand later, just Beardsleyusually take
  their examples from literature- the written or
  spoken word.
• In an earlier attempt they say Evidence that a
  work has a certain actual meaning is derived
  from a study of the work itself, the words in
  which it is written, and their syntax. In other
  words, meaning is a public matter, not an
  instance of mind-reading.

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Consider two examples

• At one point the authors say Judging a poem is
  like judging a pudding or a machine. One demands
  that it work. If I prepare what I hope will be a
  tasty pudding, and it turns out to be inedible, I
  cannot change things by pleading, Well, I meant
  for it to be good!!
• In his later book, Beardsley imagines someone
  saying I like my secretary better than my wife.
  We know what that means. If we dont want to say
  that, we need to substitute another sentence,
  perhaps For some reason, my wife hates my
  secretary, whereas I think shes O. K. So I like
  her better than my wife does. Again, what the
  sentence means is a public matter.

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But what about??
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Title??

• The story is that Whistler called this work
  Arrangement in Gray and Black, No.1 and the art
  dealers talked him into adding ,Being a Portrait
  of the Artists Mother. Whats the point??
• Well, many philosophers (including Isabel
  Hungerland) say one sense in which the artists
  intention matters is when we mean, What were you
  doing?? If the artist is doing an arrangement
  then it seems wrong to say, One should be kinder
  to ones Mum.
• Remember Dr. J. B. Smiths adviceWhen you enter
  a artists studio, dont ask, Whats it a
  picture of? Ask What was your point of
  departure? The title is often a clue.

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Consider two other examples
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Both by Constable.
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Why so different??

• Intentionalism is making a comeback, because of
  cases like these. Constable lived near the
  Salisbury Cathedral, and did many paintings of
  it, usually bright and cheerful.
• But his wife had died before the darker work was
  painted. Note that the workers continue in the
  fields, indicating that, somehow, life goes on.
  It is said the rainbow was added later, a symbol
  of Gods promise that He has not deserted us, and
  there is still reason to hope for tomorrow.

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And this case

• As everyone knows, the French finally figured out
  the best way to control Protestants was just to
  kill them alla man could escape being killed by
  wearing a white armband, signifying that he was
  Catholic.
• In this work by Millais, a girl tries in vain to
  convince her lover to take the band, and he
  refuses---doesnt it help to know that??

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France-1572!!
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Monroe C. Beardsley (1915-1985)

• During most of the last half of the 20th century,
  Monroe Beardsley was the leading figure in
  aesthetics, though he died in 1985. I think he
  still is. It was not because he was always right
  on all issues, but he thought and wrote about all
  issues, in a way that had to be respected.
• I close with one more example in which I think he
  was wrong. In a paper on The Philosophy of
  Literature, he responded to someone who had said
  that it was one thing to claim intentionalism
  should not be used in art criticism, and quite
  another to use this fallacy to distinguish art
  from nonart Beardsley replied duly noted. In
  distinguishing between art and nonart in the
  particular case of literature.we have to appeal
  at some point to an artistic intention. Shock!!
  I should have thought the arguments would be the
  same. Why not??

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One final word