How do the ways we argue represent a practical philosophy or a way of life? This book analyzes arguments in literary, cultural, and political theory, with special attention to the ways in which theorists understand ideals of critical distance, forms of subjective experience, and the determinants of belief and practice.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part I. Critical Practices Chapter 1: Debatable Performances: Restaging Contentious Feminisms 21 Chapter 2: The Temptations of Aggrandized Agency: Feminist Histories and the Horizon of Modernity 46 Part II. Living Universalism Chapter 3: Cosmopolitanism, Universalism, and the Divided Legacies of Modernity 69 Chapter 4: Realism, Universalism, and the Science of the Human 93 Part III. Ethos and Argument Chapter 5: Pragmatism and Character 115 Chapter 6: Argument and Ethos 134 Chapter 7: Beyond Sincerity and Authenticity 161: The Ethos of Proceduralism Index 189

"How do we argue now? Vigorously and with vim, if Amanda Anderson's new book is any indication. Anderson worries that the poststructuralist critique of reason, together with identity politics' sociological reductionism, threatens to undermine our capacity to argue, but she puts the lie to her own concern in this well-argued book. And she gives her readers much to argue with. We should all rise to her challenge and respond to this book in ways that participate in, extend, and (dare I say it?) trouble the culture of argument that Anderson here seeks to promote and surely exemplifies."—Bonnie Honig, Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University and senior research fellow, American Bar Foundation

"How do we argue now? Vigorously and with vim, if Amanda Anderson's new book is any indication. Anderson worries that the poststructuralist critique of reason, together with identity politics' sociological reductionism, threatens to undermine our capacity to argue, but she puts the lie to her own concern in this well-argued book. And she gives her readers much to argue with. We should all rise to her challenge and respond to this book in ways that participate in, extend, and (dare I say it?) trouble the culture of argument that Anderson here seeks to promote and surely exemplifies."—Bonnie Honig, Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University and senior research fellow, American Bar Foundation"An intellectual achievement of the first rank and the work of a powerful and independent mind. We are invited to rethink the premises of contemporary theory in a manner that is invigorating and eye-opening. Anderson's own incisive contribution to the culture of argument will surely change the way many people think."—Rita Felski, University of Virginia, author of Literature after Feminism"This book addresses a broad range of controverted subjects with great tact, generosity, and persuasive force. Its readers, whatever their theoretical allegiance, will have to acknowledge this accomplishment. It is rare to read so intelligent and thought-provoking a book as this."—John Guillory, New York University, author of Cultural Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation"A shrewd and witty dissection of contemporary academic theory's discontents. Anderson's anti-anti-Enlightenment argument serves as a refreshing antidote to the symptomatic prejudices of our age."—Nancy Fraser, Henry A.and Louise Loeb Professor, Graduate Faculty, New School

How do we argue now? Vigorously and with vim, if Amanda Anderson's new book is any indication. Anderson worries that the poststructuralist critique of reason, together with identity politics' sociological reductionism, threatens to undermine our capacity to argue, but she puts the lie to her own concern in this well-argued book. And she gives her readers much to argue with. We should all rise to her challenge and respond to this book in ways that participate in, extend, and (dare I say it?) trouble the culture of argument that Anderson here seeks to promote and surely exemplifies. -- Bonnie Honig, Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University and senior research fellow, American Bar Foundation An intellectual achievement of the first rank and the work of a powerful and independent mind. We are invited to rethink the premises of contemporary theory in a manner that is invigorating and eye-opening. Anderson's own incisive contribution to the culture of argument will surely change the way many people think. -- Rita Felski, University of Virginia, author of "Literature after Feminism" This book addresses a broad range of controverted subjects with great tact, generosity, and persuasive force. Its readers, whatever their theoretical allegiance, will have to acknowledge this accomplishment. It is rare to read so intelligent and thought-provoking a book as this. -- John Guillory, New York University, author of "Cultural Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation" A shrewd and witty dissection of contemporary academic theory's discontents. Anderson's anti-anti-Enlightenment argument serves as a refreshing antidote to the symptomatic prejudices of our age. -- Nancy Fraser, Henry A.and Louise Loeb Professor, Graduate Faculty, New School