Dudley nails it to the door

Michael Dudley author of The Shakespeare Authorship Question and Philosphy: Knowledge, Rhetoric, Identity
(Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023)

Michael Dudley views his vocation of librarian at the University of Manitoba with dialectic rigor.

"Librarianship has a duty to inform democracy," he said in Kathryn Sharpe's virtual bookclub on April 27, 2024. Dudley discussed his new book The Shakespeare Authorship Question and Philosophy: Knowledge, Rhetoric, Identity published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing last fall. In SAQ and Philosophy Dudley uses the hammer of logic to nail his accusations against the barricaded door of the Shakespeare citadel.

"The question of Shakespeare's authorship is a malformed debate practiced in an unethical fashion," Dudley said.

When asked why his book is important, Dudley said:

"What sets my book apart from others on the authorship question is that, instead of examining the respective cases for or against authorial candidates in terms of evidence internal to the debate, the book subjects the debate itself to external criteria in the form of theories of knowledge, justification, truth, and rhetoric, in order to determine the extent to which the knowledge and belief-formation practices of the candidates' partisans ( i.e. Stratfordians and Oxfordians) adhere to conventionally-accepted epistemic norms. I believe that my book is important not only because it approaches this long-standing controversy from a wholly new perspective, but because the problem it addresses -- the nature of the institutional intransigence against skepticism regarding Shakespeare -- is (like the Author himself!) of civilizational importance."

Dudley has instituted a series of broadcasts discussing all the aspects of his investigation on YouTube titled The SAQ and Philosophy Podcast. "This series adapts, explains, and expands on the content of the book in a readily accessible and informal way," Dudley said.

The first episode can be viewed here:

Information is also available on Dudley's SAQ and Philosophy website.




Michael Dudley will be presenting at the following upcoming conference venues:




• May 11, 2024: “The Shakespeare Question:  From Academic Taboo to Academic Freedom.” The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship AGM, London Ontario.
• May 23, 2024: “Foreclosed Inquiry and Intellectual Virtues in the Shakespeare Authorship Debate,” Heterodox Libraries Spring 2024 Symposium: Curiosity, Controversy, and Intellectual Courage (webinar)




In addition, many of Dudley's talks may be found on the YouTube channels of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship and The Heterodox Academy.

Most of his SAQ-related works can be found on  University of Manitoba's institutional repository WinnSpace – (search for “Shakespeare”)