Roman Ingarden’s Philosophy of Literature: A Phenomenological Account

In Roman Ingarden’s Philosophy of Literature Wojciech Chojna discusses Ingarden’s theory of literary works and develops a phenomenological account of identity which accommodates differences in interpretations and value judgments without succumbing to relativism. The latter is overcome not through falling back on essentialism but from within relativism.

Literature offers us diverse experiences changing our perceptions of ourselves and the worlds we live in. Absolutism proclaiming unmitigated access to the meaning of literary texts is intolerant of differences and leads to violence in life. Conversely, relativism, in the illusory spirit of radical tolerance, turns meanings and values into historically contingent, incompatible interpretations, where communication and reconciliation is impossible, thus justifying ideological conflicts and violence.

Wojciech Chojna, Ph.D. (1992), Temple University, Professor, Pasco-Hernando State College, USA; published articles and translations on aesthetics and philosophy, including ＂Phenomenological Redescription of Violence＂ in Justice, Law and Violence (Temple University Press, 1991), ＂Philosophy and the Modern World＂ in the Kwartalnik Filozoficzny (2006, translation).