Davidson on Rortyʹs Postmetaphysical Critique of Intentionalism

In this article I shall address the standing of intentionalist theories of interpretation through Richard Rortyʹs critique. Rortyʹs criticism arises from the position literature holds in the postmetaphysical, liberal culture Rorty sketches As a counterbalance to Rortyʹs critique, I shall develop an intentionalist theory of interpretation drawing on Donald Davidsonʹs late philosophy of language and his view of literary interpretation that have sadly not been taken into proper consideration in the on-going debate in analytic aesthetics on the role of authorial intentions in interpretation. The prospects of Davidsonʹs intentionalism for meeting Rortyʹs criticism are related to the position of imagination in the Davidsonian approach. By indicating the connections between the position of imagination in Davidsonʹs views and how it has in turn been approached in contemporary pragmatist-inspired moral philosophy, I shall argue that an intentionalist theory is, after all, able to meet those challenges that Rorty sees literature and literary theory facing in his postmetaphysical culture.