Mimesis: metaphysics, cognition, pragmatics

0390625 - FLÚ 2013 RIV GB eng M - Monography Chapter
Pokorný, Martin
Characters as Someonewhos.
Mimesis: metaphysics, cognition, pragmatics. London: College Publications, 2012 - (Currie, G.; Koťátko, P.; Pokorný, M.), s. 132-177. ISBN 978-1-84890-056-1
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : fictional characters * general types
Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

In the paper I argue that fictional characters are putative individuals under a description; and since putative individuals are no individuals, fictional characters are no individuals. However, developed fictional characters impress us as very singular natures. I argue that this is correct insofar as fictional characters are very distant from general types as we normally use them; nonetheless, it is a fallacy to conclude that if they are not types they have to be individuals. Yet the objection returns in a stronger form: fictional characters must be able to interact, and it seems evident that they interact as individuals (of a peculiar kind). In order to counter this impression, interaction among fictional characters is analyzed under the headings of plasticity, hierarchization, betting and "verbicture" (for "verbal picture"), and an alternative account is supplied.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0219505