The Research On Ingarden’s Meaning Theory

Based on Ingarden’s analysis in The Literary Work of Art, this thesis illustrates his theory of meaning. It gives a detail analysis of Ingarden’s research on the elements and category of words meaning. Further, this thesis contrast Ingarden’s theory of meaning with that of Husserl and Frege in the background of phenomenology and linguistics, and it argues that Ingraden’s theory has been beyond the previous scholarships and made a unique contribution in terms of the variability of meaning as well as the revealing of the fundamental relationship between meaning and words.In the meanwhile, this thesis compares Ingarden’s meaning theory with his poetics. It summarizes the variability and potentiality of meaning, and use them to analyze the creature and acceptance of literature. It argues that the variability of meaning enables authors to describe a series of "Schematized Aspects" through the application of words, while the potential stock of meaning allows readers to action through consciousness to picture similar intentional objects with ones presented by the author. Nevertheless, Ingarden’s attempt failed to define the border between literature and scientific scholarships through distinguishing the judgments and the "quasi-judgments" in higher meaning units, it is difficult to conduct this research and draw conclusion solely in the field of ontology, as it related to epistemology.Finally, this thesis attempts to summarize, through Ingarden’s view of ontology, the characteristics of meaning as well as its mode of being. The author believes that Ingardens’ research on the existence of meaning is yet to be a success. His research judges the existence of meaning through the existential feature of’intentional objects’ intended by meaning, yet the aim of research lies in literature rather than meaning itself. The key to determine the mode of being lies in the existential features which is the "existential heteronomy, existential derivation, existential inseparateness, existential contingency". This thesis reveals the dependence of meaning on objects and conscious behavior, and it points that meaning the constructive framework that is closely related to everyday life. Further it is argued in the thesis that Ingarden’s theory of meaning restore the original appearance and vitality of linguistics.