Philosophy of Literature: An Introduction

This book raises some interesting questions, but New's method of answering them is throughly obnoxious. He presents other theories in brief and proceeds to shoot them down without giving a reader ample chance (or information) to contemplate any theory but his own. Also, there are mistakes in describing certain theories. The chapters are: What is literature? clearing the ground; What is literature? Definitions and resemblances; Fiction; Psychological reactions to fiction; Imagination; Metaphor; Interpretation and Intention; Literature, truth, and morality; and Literary appraisals. The book is theory-oriented, and if literary theory is what you're interested in, look elsewhere. New's book is inadequate both in the areas of explanation (of any theories except his own; incidentally, his prose is not good at all) and argument (as there is never adequate chance to explore other theories, which are described poorly and sometimes incorrectly). If you want to learn about literary theory, keep looking.