The Critic as Anti-Philosopher

by F.R. Leavis, G. Singh

Excellent Book

Paperback

First published February 1, 1998

About the author

Frank Raymond "F.R." Leavis, CH was an English literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for much of his career at Downing College, Cambridge but often latterly at the University of York.

Reviews

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leavis belongs to an age of literary criticism wherein academic authority commonly expresses itself as deeply opinionated and uncompromisable. While this may be mildly to deeply agitating to the more pluralistically minded reader, this does not mean that Leavis does not relay some interesting points throughout this collection. Were one to politicize Leavis, he would come across as deeply conservative, holding the view that only 4 authors in all of literature truly matter as "greats," that incredibly few people have the natural capacity to become highly intelligent, and that the "great books" and liberal education are academic failures. As biting as these and other criticisms may be, Leavis also situates himself within a view that stresses the importance of an interdisciplinary co-presence and that literary critics function not as someone who seeks to understand the entirety of truth, but who recognizes not all truth may be attained. The book serves well for those interested in more traditional variants of literary theory and those who seek an intelligent text to argue against.