Fictions within fictions

Philosophical Studies 146 (3):379 - 398 (2008)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper examines the logic of fictions within fictions. I argue that consistently nested consistent fictions must have certain formal characteristics. The most important is that they form a tree structure. Depending on one’s theory of fictional objects, additional constraints may apply regarding the appearance of a fictional object in two or more fictional universes. The background motivation for the paper is to use iterated fiction operators as a tool for making sense of iterated modal operators; I conclude by noting briefly where the results about nested fictions can, and where they cannot, be extended to nested possible worlds.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Science fictions: Comment on Godfrey-Smith.Arthur Fine - 2009 - Philosophical Studies 143 (1):117 - 125.
Literary Fictions and As-If Fictions.Eric Miller - 1997 - Philosophy and Rhetoric 30 (4):428 - 442.
Fuller on legal fictions.Kenneth Campbell - 1983 - Law and Philosophy 2 (3):339 - 370.
The Ghost is the Thing: Can Fiction Reveal Audience Belief?Aaron Smuts - 2010 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 34 (1):219-239.
Models and fictions in science.Peter Godfrey-Smith - 2009 - Philosophical Studies 143 (1):101 - 116.
Fate, Fiction and the Future.Robin Le Poidevin - 2001 - Philosophical Papers 30 (1):69-92.
Unrealistic Fictions.Allan Hazlett & Christy Mag Uidhir - 2011 - American Philosophical Quarterly 48 (1):33--46.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
151 (#115,044)

6 months
9 (#144,029)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Reina Hayaki
University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Citations of this work

Imagining stories: attitudes and operators.Neil Van Leeuwen - 2021 - Philosophical Studies 178 (2):639-664.
Fictional Creations.Maarten Steenhagen - 2021 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Naming and Necessity: Lectures Given to the Princeton University Philosophy Colloquium.Saul A. Kripke - 1980 - Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Edited by Darragh Byrne & Max Kölbel.
Naming and Necessity.S. Kripke - 1972 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 45 (4):665-666.
Fiction and Metaphysics.Amie L. Thomasson - 1998 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Naming and Necessity.Saul Kripke - 2003 - In John Heil (ed.), Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology. Oxford University Press.
Nonexistent Objects.Terence Parsons - 1980 - Yale University Press.

View all 30 references / Add more references