Stanley Fish is an American literary theorist and legal scholar, often associated with postmodernism, though he describes himself as an anti-foundationalist. His work focuses on the critical examination of texts and interpretations, exploring how meanings are constructed and how they shape our understanding of the world. Fish's approach is known for its provocative nature and emphasis on the idea that there are no universal truths, only interpretive communities.
Exploring the complexities of freedom of speech and the First Amendment, this work provides a nonpartisan analysis of its protections and limitations. The author, a renowned public intellectual, delves into the types of speech that should be regulated versus those that should remain free, offering insightful observations that challenge conventional views. This timely examination addresses the current discourse surrounding free speech, making it a crucial read for anyone interested in understanding its implications in today's society.
"In literary theory, the philosophy of law, and the sociology of knowledge, no issue has been more central to current debate than the status of our interpretations. Do they rest on a ground of rationality or are they subjective impositions of a merely personal point of view? In Doing What Comes Naturally, Stanley Fish refuses the dilemma posed by this question and argues that while we can never separate our judgments from the contexts in which they are made, those judgments are nevertheless authoritative and even, in the only way that matters, objective. He thus rejects both the demand for an ahistorical foundation, and the conclusion that in the absence of such a foundation we reside in an indeterminate world. In a succession of provocative and wide-ranging chapters, Fish explores the implications of his position for our understanding of legal, literary, and psychoanalytic interpretation, the nature of professional and institutional culture, and the place of reason in a world that is rhetorical through and through."--Publisher description.
Stanley Fish focuses on well-known movies (such as Anatomy of a Murder, Twelve
Angry Men, or A Man for All Seasons) that take law as their subject, and
explains how legal doctrine is made into the stuff of plot and character. A
book for movie lovers written in an accessible and engaging style.
