Jermaine, a college sophomore, was asked, "if two people disagree on the interpretation of a poem, how would you decide which one is right?" he replied, "you'd have to ask the poet. it's his poem." jermaine is displaying

Jermaine is displaying "dualistic thinking."

Dualistic thinking is a state of mind that partitions your considerations into two inverse classes. Dualism (rationality of psyche), or mind-body dualism, an arrangement of perspectives about the connection amongst brain and matter, which starts with the claim that psychological wonders are, in a few regards, non-physical.