Sheldon Sacks – författare

On Metaphor, a collection of fourteen essays by eminent philosophers, literary critics, theologians, art historians, and psychologists, illustrates and explores a striking phenomenon in modern intellectual history: the transformation of metaphor from a specialized concern of rhetoricians and literary critics to a central concept in the study of human understanding. These lively and provocative essays probe the nature, function, and meaning of metaphor and collectively demonstrate the multidisciplinary implications of the concept. Because of its comprehensive scope, the volume is useful both as a resource for those interested in contemporary philosophy and theories of language and as a text for courses in such areas as the philosophy of language, critical theory, and the philosophy of knowledge. Originally published as a special issue of Critical Inquiry, the present collection includes two new contributions by Max Black and Nelson Goodman, along with a comprehensive index to the work.

Fiction and the Shape of Belief explores how eighteenth-century fiction negotiates the relationship between narrative form and ethical conviction. Sheldon Sacks develops a critical “grammar” of fictional types—satire, apologue, and action—and demonstrates how each embodies belief in distinct ways. With particular attention to Henry Fielding, and comparative glances at Swift, Johnson, and Richardson, Sacks reveals how narrative strategies shape the moral and intellectual content of prose fiction. The study challenges critics who collapse diverse forms under thematic generalities, offering instead a precise framework for understanding how structure and belief cohere.By insisting that belief is not incidental ornament but integral to fictional organization, this landmark work reframes the place of the novel in literary history. It shows that Fielding’s novels cannot be read simply as carriers of moral “themes,” but as actions whose coherence depends on the interplay of character, complication, and resolution. At the same time, the book clarifies the unique artistic demands of satire and apologue, illuminating why Gulliver’s Travels or Rasselas succeed on their own terms but fail when judged as novels. First published by the University of California Press in 1967, Fiction and the Shape of Belief remains a foundational intervention in narrative theory and eighteenth-century studies.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1967.