Fictional Characters

Bibliographic Data

ID4079786
AuthorsSarah Friend (0000-0001-7791-8467, Birkbeck, University of London, corresponding author), Stacie Friend
Year2007
Volume2
Issue2
Pages141-156
Publication date2007-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1747-9991.2007.00059.x
OpenAlexW4205968470
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited17

If there are no fictional characters, how do we explain thought and discourse apparently about them? If there are, what are they like? A growing number of philosophers claim that fictional characters are abstract objects akin to novels or plots. They argue that postulating characters provides the most straightforward explanation of our literary practices as well as a uniform account of discourse and thought about fiction. Anti-realists counter that postulation is neither necessary nor straightforward, and that the invocation of pretense provides a better account of the same phenomena. I outline and assess these competing theories

Art · Epistemology · Invocation · Linguistics · Literature · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub