Philosophical Discussion Concerning Meaning and Interpretation (& Poem Reading)

About this event

Greetings, Today, we are awash in instant information that is instantly accessible and retransmitted millions of times to millions of people. But have you ever wondered how we ensure that we interpret the meaning of such information correctly? Or at least the way the author intended? Some may say, well, we can do no better than interview the author, ask the author for clarity, perhaps? But what if there are multiple authors involved? What if we don’t know the actual author? And most naturally, what if the author no longer exists? For instance, who wrote the Bible? Well, some may say the Holy Spirit inspired the holy people to write the Bible and reveal the holy words. But who has the indisputable claim to be the right representative interpreter of that spooky phantom spirit? Plato and Aristotle have also left masterful philosophical writings that have outlived millennia. But who has access to the actually intended reading of the dead philosophers? Join me this Autumnal afternoon for a discussion concerning the meaning and interpretation in the 21st century. 1\. Bring your favourite poem Bringing a Poem to Life Let's bring a poem you have written or a poem by another author that you find meaningful. Cite the source, present the poem, and explain your personal interpretation. 1. What does this poem mean to me? 2. What experiences, emotions, or beliefs shape my interpretation? 3. Do I believe the poet intended to convey the same meaning that I have discovered? 2\. Who gets to decide what it means? Does it have an absolute meaning that shouldn't be misinterpreted? Or can it be interpreted in multiple ways? The Philosophy of Meaning: Who Owns the Interpretation? Use the experiences from Phase 1 to examine the main philosophical questions. Participants should refer to the poems discussed earlier, rather than treating the questions as purely abstract exercises. (Questions) 1\. If a poet intends to convey one meaning but readers consistently interpret the poem differently\, which meaning should we consider correct\, if any? 2\. Does the author's intention determine the meaning of a work\, or does the work acquire a meaning independent of its creator once it is made public? 3\. Can an interpretation be wrong? If so\, what makes it wrong: its contradiction of the author's intention\, its lack of textual evidence\, or something else? 4\. If two people interpret the same poem differently\, can both interpretations be equally valid? Where would you draw the line between a legitimate interpretation and an arbitrary one? 5\. To what extent does our identity shape the meaning we find in a work of art? Would someone with a different cultural background\, life experience\, or set of beliefs encounter a fundamentally different poem? 6\. Can a reader discover a meaning in a poem that its author never consciously intended? If so\, is that meaning genuinely part of the work\, or is it something the reader brings to it? 7\. Does a poem possess a meaning independent of both its author and its readers? Or is meaning possible only through the relationship between the text and its interpreter? 8\. If an author dies\, or their intentions become permanently inaccessible\, does the meaning of their work change? Or does only our ability to establish that meaning change? 9\. When we interpret a poem\, are we primarily discovering something about the author\, the text\, or ourselves? 10\. If our interpretation of a work changes as we grow older\, does that mean the work has changed\, that we have changed\, or that meaning itself is not fixed? 🤖(ChatGPT quick note) ....... Online Venue : N/A Offline Venue : 서울 서대문구 창천동 9-21 [SocratesCafe_Group Chat] : https://open.kakao.com/o/gcvmaI0d 📖 [Optional Watch & Read List] https://perennial.substack.com/p/the-philosophy-of-desire ***