The Original Problem of Agency: Revisiting the “Intentional Fallacy”

• In Event: Re-Thinking Foundational Questions and Problems in Communication Studies

Abstract

Wimsatt and Beardsley’s essay “The Intentional Fallacy” arguably began our current discussion of agency, but the essay itself has been given slight attention in the field of rhetoric. The essay is reexamined to test the strength of what would prove to be the most famous and influential stance against intentionalism offered in the twentieth century. The chief implication is that rhetorical critical attitudes which are informed by the authority of this essay should be reconsidered.

Author

• Ryan K Clark, Univ of Memphis