Arguably no other living philosopher has done as much as Stanley Cavell to show the common cause shared by literature and philosophy. Stanley Cavell and Literary Studies is not only timely but, indeed, long past due. As the discipline of literary studies struggles to move beyond the suspicious skepticisms and anti-humanisms that have dominated the field, but without lapsing into sentimentality and naïveté, Cavell's writings and ideas will only become more pertinent.

Notes on ContributorsAbbreviations1. Introduction: Cavell, Literary Studies, and the Human Subject: Consequences of Skepticism Richard Eldridge and Bernard RhieI. Principles2. The Adventure of Reading: Literature and Philosophy, Cavell and Beauvoir Toril Moi3. "Is 'Us' Me?" Cultural Studies and the Universality of Aesthetic Judgments R. M. Berry4. Cavell and Kant: The Work of Criticism and the Work of Art Anthony J. Cascardi5. Cavell and Wittgenstein on Morality: The Limits of Acknowledgment Charles Altieri6. The Word Viewed: Skepticism Degree Zero Garrett Stewart7. A Storied World: On Meeting and Being Met Naomi Scheman8. Skepticism and the Idea of an Other: Reflections on Cavell and Postcolonialism Simona Bertacco and John GibsonII. Practices9. William Shakespeare and Stanley Cavell: Acknowledging, Confessing, and Tragedy Sarah Beckwith10. Competing for the Soul: Cavell on Shakespeare Lawrence F. Rhu11. "Communicating with Objects": Romanticism, Skepticism, and "The Specter of Animism" in Cavell and Wordsworth Joshua Wilner12. Emerson Discomposed: Skepticism, Naturalism, and the Search for Criteria in "Experience" Paul Grimstad13. Beside Ourselves: Near, Neighboring and Next-to in Cavell's The Senses of Walden and William Carlos Williams's "Fine Work with Pitch and Copper" Elisa New14. For all You Know Andrew H. Miller15. Empiricism, Exhaustion, and Meaning What We Say: Cavell and Contemporary Fiction Robert ChodatSelect BibliographyIndex