PHIL493/593 SP26
PHIL 493/593: Special Topics in Metaphysical Studies: Philosophy of Fiction
Dr. Nellie Wieland
Mondays & Wednesdays · 9:30am–10:45am · LA2–206
This special topics course is in the philosophy of fiction.Although we will refer to many works of fiction, literature, music, and other representational arts, the focus of this class will not be studying those works. Instead, it will be a class about the nature of fictions themselves.
Topics that might be included:
- The nature of literature and fiction. Are they valuable and why? These questions are about how fictions are defined, how it makes possible new work, whether fictional, literary, or artistic works ought to have value and if so what kind? We may also ask about the purpose of fictional, literary, or artistic works and what they can do for philosophy. And, whether fictional works written with immoral intentions can still be good.
- The nature of authors and works. Questions about authorship, being a creator of a work, and the nature of the work itself are more complicated than they first appear.
- How and why we participate in fictions. These questions are about why we feel feelings about fictions. The feeling of these feelings will lead us to the paradox of fiction which we will try and untangle. This will bear on our understanding of emotions, the imagination, and the nature of belief.
- How fictions are created or generated. Here we will try and figure out what they are so we can know when we’re saying something true about them. We’ll talk about how fictions are generated, and how they can span worlds, and why this might be relevant to our participation in fictions.
- The puzzle of imaginative resistance. This is about why we sometimes can’t imagine that seemingly simple claims are true in a fictional world.
- Theories of moralism and immoralism in aesthetics. This has to do with the evaluation of immoral elements in fictional works (as opposed to the immoral intentions of the author). We sometimes root for bad guys. This says something about our psychology, but in this class we look at what it says about the aesthetics of a work. Is a work aesthetically better or worse if it makes the audience sympathetic to immorality?
Readings that might be included:
Jorge Luis Borges, selected texts
Gregory Currie, The Nature of Fiction
David Hume, ‘On Tragedy”
David Hume, ‘Of the Standard of Taste”
David Lewis, ‘Truth in Fiction”
Derek Matravers, Fiction and Narrative
Kendall Walton, Mimesis as Make Believe
Noel Carroll, The Philosophy of Horror
Tamar Gendler, ‘Alief and belief’
Tamar Gendler, ‘The puzzle of imaginative resistance’
Richard Moran, ‘The expression of feeling in the imagination’
Colin Radford, ‘How can we be moved by the fate of Anna Karenina?”
David Suits, ‘Really believing in fiction’
Kendall Walton, ‘Fearing fictions’
Noel Carroll, ‘Art and ethical criticism’
Noel Carroll, ‘Moderate moralism
Justin D’Arms & Daniel Jacobson, ‘The moralistic fallacy’
Anne Eaton, ‘Robust immoralism’
Berys Gaut, Art, Emotion, and Ethics
Daniel Jacobson, ‘In praise of immoral art’
Matthew Kieran, ‘Art and morality’
