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Stanley Eugene Fish
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Winning Arguments: What Works and Doesn't Work in Politics, the Bedroom, the Courtroom, and the Classroom Hardcover – 11 Aug. 2016

by Stanley Fish (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 132 ratings
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“Fish mines cultural touchstones from Milton to ‘Married with Children’ to explain how various types of arguments are structured and how that understanding can lead to victory” — New York Times Book Review

A lively and accessible guide to understanding rhetoric by the world class English and Law professor and bestselling author of How to Write a Sentence.

Filled with the wit and observational prowess that shaped Stanley Fish’s acclaimed bestseller How to Write a Sentence, Winning Arguments guides readers through the “greatest hits” of rhetoric. In this clever and engaging guide, Fish offers insight and outlines the crucial keys you need to win any debate, anywhere, anytime—drawn from landmark legal cases, politics, his own career, and even popular film and television. A celebration of clashing minds and viewpoints, Winning Arguments is sure to become a classic. 

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  1. ISBN-10
    9780062226655
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0062226655
  3. Publisher
    Harper
  4. Publication date
    11 Aug. 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    13.97 x 2.06 x 20.96 cm
  7. Print length
    224 pages
  8. See all details
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Product description

Review

Compelling...The points [Fish] presents are philosophical, metaphysical, even ontological. (Kirkus)

“Timely… readers will find this latest work simultaneously challenging and accessible.” (Library Journal)

“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” (Slate on HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE)

“Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.” (Financial Times on HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE)

“[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.” (New Yorker on HOW TO WRITE A SENTENCE)

“How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.” (Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of They Say/I Say)

An important book for any lawyer, scholar, or pundit-not to mention any spouse who has tried to walk back fractious words-Fish’s shrewd work can help everyone better understand the power of effective communication in everyday life. (Publishers Weekly)

From the Back Cover

“The wish to escape argument is really the wish to escape language, which is really the wish to escape politics, and is finally the wish to escape mortality—and it won’t matter a whit.”

Ever wonder how gay marriage became accepted over such a short period, after thousands of years of peril? Or how you were dumb enough to get in that last quarrel with your significant other? Or how Donald Trump became the clear frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary? Or how millions continue to deny the devastating effects of global warming? In Winning Arguments, professor and New York Times bestselling author Stanley Fish touches on these hot-button issues as he reveals how successful argument can be used to win over popular opinion.

With wit and wisdom, Fish delves into a wide range of subjects, including Donald Trump, the Supreme Court, the logic of toddlers, Monty Python, the National Football League, Holocaust denial and creationism, the nature of political spin, and the fall of Adam and Eve. 

For students, teachers, lawyers, managers, husbands, wives—indeed, anyone looking to persuade their opponent—Winning Arguments is a fun read and a powerful tool that will stay with readers long after they finish the book. For, as Fish writes,  “argument is unavoidable, argument is interminable, argument is all we have.”

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0062226657
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper (11 Aug. 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780062226655
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062226655
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.06 x 20.96 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 132 ratings

About the author

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Stanley Eugene Fish

Stanley Eugene Fish

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Stanley Fish is the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor and a professor of law at Florida International University. He has previously taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He has received many honors and awards, including being named the Chicagoan of the Year for Culture. He is the author of twelve books and is now a weekly columnist for the New York Times. He resides in Andes, New York; New York City; and Delray Beach, Florida; with his wife, Jane Tompkins.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
132 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

t1ber1us@hotmail.com
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a very wonderful book. Fish's position is that attempts to get ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 February 2018
This is a very wonderful book. Fish's position is that attempts to get outside of language (such as those of Habermas) are deeply flawed and can never work. He makes a possible exception in the context of a relationship between two people, where he suggests we can learn some basic strategies to smooth over problems, but in politics especially he sees argumentation as fundamental to the topic with little hope we can try and create an 'interpretive community' which abides to rules which put the general good ahead of our own drive to 'win' in debates. Fish takes us through a range of different areas (law, academia, marriage, politics) and explores the different ways that attempts to create ideal-speech situations fall flat (with the possible exception of marriage) and even stifle the need for us to deal with the messy world in which we live. Even if you disagree with Fish (and I don't always agree, which I think he'd actually like) then this is a beautifully-written outline of his view of the role of argumentation, and well worth reading.
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Top reviews from other countries

Eashwari
3.0 out of 5 stars An Okay Read
Reviewed in India on 24 May 2021
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The book was delivered on time and was in perfect condition when it arrived. However, the book itself is okay. Not as interesting as I thought it was. It is an easy read and brings out of a couple of interesting points regarding the world of arguments, dialogue and discussion. That said, not really Stanley Fish’s best work.
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Alan Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars You Never Win an Argument
Reviewed in the United States on 20 September 2016
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As always, Dr. Fish offers his own unique perspective on the central role argumentation plays in our everyday effort to make collective sense out of the problems we humans confront. While I understand why the publishers titled this book "Winning Arguments," the theme of the book is not about winning, but about the recognition that argumentation is a necessary part of our life, that the goal of consensus is a myth, and to understand the rules of the different arguments we find ourselves in on a daily basis. As I read the book, I kept thinking of how the Irish view argumentation: "is this a private fight or can anyone join in. The point of this book is living life means you have joined the argument.
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ned
4.0 out of 5 stars Covers material well
Reviewed in the United States on 13 January 2023
Verified Purchase
A comprehensive coverage of topic. Should have checked it out at local library first and not having to clutter my bookshelf by owning it.
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Ankit
2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
Reviewed in India on 2 October 2016
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boring...not good...just quoted examples with not good relevance...went over my head
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gray a turner
5.0 out of 5 stars Can't stop me now
Reviewed in the United States on 1 April 2023
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Since buying this witty book I've become unstoppable. I win all arguments and everyone bows before my rhetorical greatness. If you buy it we can't argue because it would be like matter touching anti-matter.
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