Fiction and Metaphysics
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:12th Jun '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Argues that fiction has far-reaching implications for central problems of metaphysics. Develops an 'artifactual' theory of fiction, whereby fictional characters are abstract artifacts as ordinary as laws or symphonies or works of literature. Will interest philosophers concerned with metaphysics and the philosophy of language, and also those in literary theory.This challenging study places fiction squarely at the centre of the discussion of metaphysics. Philosophers have traditionally treated fiction as involving a set of narrow problems in logic or the philosophy of language. By contrast Amie Thomasson argues that fiction has far-reaching implications for central problems of metaphysics. The book develops an 'artifactual' theory of fiction, whereby fictional characters are abstract artifacts as ordinary as laws or symphonies or works of literature. By understanding fictional characters we come to understand how other cultural and social objects are established on the basis of the independent physical world and the mental states of human beings.
ISBN: 9780521065214
Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 11mm
Weight: 240g
188 pages