The Theory of Literary Criticism: A Logical Analysis

The Theory of Literary Criticism: A Logical Analysis by John M. Ellis argues that modern debates about “what criticism should do” have stagnated since the mid-century syntheses, breeding a climate of “wise eclecticism” that shrinks theory’s scope to ad-hoc judgment. Ellis contends this posture is a practical stopgap, not a theory: if critics switch methods “case by case,” theory must still explain which distinctions justify those switches. He traces the impasse to two habits: (1) reform-dri...