Logic and Criticism

First Published in 1963, Logic and Criticism makes one of the rare attempts since that of I.A. Richard?s Principles of Literary Criticism to examine the problems of criticism in the light of recent philosophical developments. The character of critical language and argument, the problem of judgement, the relevance or irrelevance of moral criteria, are considered in detail through examples drawn from the most important modern critics. Above all the work is concerned with the question of how logical or illogical an activity criticism is, and the conclusions drawn have great relevance to current critical discussion. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of philosophy and literature.

Review of the original publication:

?The book is in two sections, the first dealing with the problem of judgement, the second with that of exactness and logicality in criticism. In both a considerable amount of space is devoted to discussion of examples from actual critics. Mr. Righter hopes in this way to avoid empty philosophical speculation, divorced as it has often been from the empirical work in the field. He states for example (p. vii) that his is ?not an attempt to develop a theory of judgement on logical or metaphysical grounds, but rather to set the problem of judgement in its proper context of the things critics say.? The programme sounds a good one; the problems are real, and the reader is excited at the prospect of the application to them of the sustained and rigorous argument, the precise and careful distinctions, which he expects of a modern philosopher.?

-J. M. ELLIS, Analytic Philosophy, Volume5, Issue1, January 1964, Pages 17-19