"In lively and engaging readings, Scepticism and Literature shows how sceptical discourse informs the writing of Hume and Sterne, as well as that of less likely figures, such as Pope and Johnson." --J. T. Parnell, Goldsmiths College, University of London "The great virtue of Fred Parker's Skepticism and Literature is to remind readers that many in the eighteenth century were more interested in curbing organized thought than in shouting it from the rooftopsThe prose is elegant, the wisdom affably pedestrian and secondhandSkepticism and Literature is the graceful repackaging of earlier commonplaces."--Modern Philology "Specialists in eighteenth-century literature will be informed most by the stylistic delicacy with which Parker distinguishes each of these figures from one another. Parker gives us the best rationale I have read for why Pope's Essay on Man is a successful poem."--Michael McKeon, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 "This important book explores some of the literary consequences of 18th-century Britain's interest in philosophical skepticism. [Parker's] argument is convincing, and his close readings illuminate the works and authors he examines.

A major work of scholarship. Highly recommended."--Choice.