Justifying Belief: Stanley Fish and the Work of Rhetoric

Justifying Belief: Stanley Fish and the Work of Rhetoric is a book written by Gary A. Olson in which he examines in depth the non-literary works of Stanley Fish,[1] a critic of 17th century literature.

Summary

The book begins with an analysis of Fish’s perspective on English studies as an academic discipline, as developed in Professional Correctness: Literary Studies and Political Change.[2] Chapter 2 examines a principal argument in Fish’s writings: that general principles cannot inform specific practice.[3] Olson then explores Fish’s contention that rhetoric underlies epistemology. Chapter 4 is the transcript of an interview with Fish that Olson conducted in 1991. Chapter 5 is a transcript of an interview with Fish that Olson conducted in 2000. In them, Fish explores reaffirms his conviction that rhetoric is the “necessary center” of epistemology.

Foreword and afterword

J. Hillis Miller contributes an afterword to the book in which he reflects on Fish’s work and its contribution to contemporary understandings of the interrelationships among rhetoric, epistemology, and belief. Fish himself contributes a foreword.

Bibliography

The book includes a comprehensive bibliography of Fish’s works.

Critical reception

A number of scholars have cited[4][5] and analyzed[6] the contribution of Justifying Belief to rhetorical and literary scholarship. In College Literature, Thomas West praises Justifying Belief’s exclusive focus on Fish’s nonliterary work and its clear explanation of how it articulates a postmodern, antifoundational philosophical position.[7]

A Canadian scholar, Greg Maillet, writing in Religion and Literature, judges Justifying Belief to be an informative explication of Fish’s antifoundationalist rhetoric.[8] Ulf Schulenberg, a scholar at the University of Bremen in Germany, writes in American Studies that Justifying Belief is a clear explication of Fish’s theoretical work, although he criticizes Olson for focusing only on certain representative texts of Fish, and for not being critical of other aspects of Fish’s work.[9]

References

  1. ↑ J. Paul Sampley; Peter Lampe (20 June 2013). Paul and Rhetoric. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 172–. ISBN 978-0-567-12862-1.
  2. ↑ Fish, Stanley (1999). Professional Correctness: Literary Studies and Political Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0674712201.
  3. ↑ Alister McGrath (26 July 2010). The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind. InterVarsity Press. pp. 194–. ISBN 978-0-8308-3843-1.
  4. ↑ Michael Robertson (7 August 2014). Stanley Fish on Philosophy, Politics and Law: How Fish Works. Cambridge University Press. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-1-107-07474-3.
  5. ↑ Ulf Schulenberg (2007). Lovers and Knowers: Moments of the American Cultural Left. Winter. ISBN 978-3-8253-5347-6.
  6. ↑ Walhout, Mark. "Rhetorical Faith: the Literary Hermeneutics of Stanley Fish.(and "Justifying Belief. Stanley Fish and the Work of Rhetoric")(Book Review)". Christianity and Literature, January 1, 2003 via Highbeam (subscription required)
  7. ↑ West, Thomas (Winter 2004). "Review of "Justifying Belief: Stanley Fish and the Work of Rhetoric" by Gary Olson". College Literature 31 (1): 196–99. doi:10.1353/lit.2004.0013. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  8. ↑ Maillet, Greg (Summer 2004). "Review Essay". Religion and Literature 36 (2): 143–47. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Schulenberg, Ulf (2004). "Review of "Justifying Belief: Stanley Fish and the Work of Rhetoric" by Gary Olson". American Studies 49 (1): 130–34. Retrieved 30 January 2012.

External links

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