To say that Stanley Fish is among the most influential critics writing in English is not at all to say that he is followed by an admiring flock. Twice a pioneer in making critical possibilities available--first by rescuing affective criticism from the...

A friend passed along a link to an interesting New York Times Select column from literary theorist Stanley Fish which handicaps the poll of potential running-mates for Hillary Clinton. This prompted two immediate reactions: (1) How much money has the Times lost on this silly...

more,” said Andrew Rosenthal, the New York Times editorial-page editor. Mr. Rosenthal was discussing the newspaper’s opinion content on the Web—whether from name-brand op-ed columnists or outside contributors, blogs or video. “We’ve got composers, astronomers—the guy from Queen,” Mr. Rosenthal said by phone...

In the following essay, Stecker examines Fish's theoretical claims about the contextual modes of literary meaning and interpretation, as presented in Is There a Text in This Class; Stecker concludes that Fish's effort to assert the validity of interpretative assumptions as an alternative to relativism or foundationalism ultimately results in its own form of relativism.

In the following unfavorable review of Is There a Text in This Class?, Wolfheim finds contradictions and logical lapses in Fish's theory of literary interpretation.

In the following review of There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech and It's a Good Thing, Too, Sunstein objects to Fish's brand of abstract pragmatism and his dismissal of all human claims as mere “politics” without distinction. Sunstein contends that Fish's theoretical notions pose self-defeating implications for free expression and educational reform on university campuses.