David Foster Wallace and the Question of Scepticism
Seiten
2026
Edinburgh University Press (Verlag)
978-1-3995-2723-1 (ISBN)
Edinburgh University Press (Verlag)
978-1-3995-2723-1 (ISBN)
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Identifies philosophical scepticism as a major theme across Wallace’s oeuvre, in both fiction and non-fiction.
David Foster Wallace and the Question of Scepticism examines the role of scepticism and doubt in Wallace’s work, showing that they are of fundamental importance to his writing in its form and its themes. Wallace’s work articulates a deep ambivalence about the value of scepticism, on the one hand presenting practical and moral arguments for the value of conviction and belief, while on the other hand being committed to a sceptical project of opposing certainty and dogma. On a formal level, Wallace’s writing both solicits the reader’s trust and provokes the reader’s scepticism. This dynamic is responsible for the polarised responses of absolute trust and dissenting scepticism that characterise the work’s reception. By putting these responses into dialogue with the work’s internal treatment of the question of scepticism, this book illuminates the core philosophical investments that drive the work, and the dynamics that have so far governed its reception.
David Foster Wallace and the Question of Scepticism examines the role of scepticism and doubt in Wallace’s work, showing that they are of fundamental importance to his writing in its form and its themes. Wallace’s work articulates a deep ambivalence about the value of scepticism, on the one hand presenting practical and moral arguments for the value of conviction and belief, while on the other hand being committed to a sceptical project of opposing certainty and dogma. On a formal level, Wallace’s writing both solicits the reader’s trust and provokes the reader’s scepticism. This dynamic is responsible for the polarised responses of absolute trust and dissenting scepticism that characterise the work’s reception. By putting these responses into dialogue with the work’s internal treatment of the question of scepticism, this book illuminates the core philosophical investments that drive the work, and the dynamics that have so far governed its reception.
Matt Prout is an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Dublin.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Scepticism in and of David Foster Wallace
1. Different Scepticisms
2. Forms of Doubt: Realism and Scepticism
3. The Problem of Other Minds in ‘Good Old Neon’
4. Scepticism and Faith: David Foster Wallace’s Fideism
5. Seeing (Theoretically) and Swimming (in Practice): Infinite Jest and the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger
6. The Hermeneutics of Suspicion in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
7. Taking Doubt: Intellectual Virtues in Wallace’s Political Essays
8. Is David Foster Wallace Shit?
Conclusion: Scepticism and History
Notes
Bibliography
Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 30.6.2026 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Modern American Literature and the New Twentieth Century |
| Zusatzinfo | 3 black & white illustrations |
| Verlagsort | Edinburgh |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 138 x 216 mm |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Erkenntnistheorie / Wissenschaftstheorie |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-3995-2723-1 / 1399527231 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-3995-2723-1 / 9781399527231 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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