intentional fallacy

intentional fallacy noun

1. (in literary criticism) an assertion that the intended meaning of the author is not the only or most important meaning; a fallacy involving an assessment of a literary work based on the author’s intended meaning rather than on actual response to the work.

Also called in·ten·tion·al·ism [in-ten-shuh-nl-iz-uh m] /ɪnˈtɛn ʃə nlˌɪz əm/