Williams, JRG orcid.org/0000-0003-4831-2954 and Woodward, R (2021) The cognitive role of fictionality. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 102 (2). pp. 423-438. ISSN 0031-8205
Abstract
The question of the cognitive role of fictionality is this: what is the correct cognitive attitude to take to p, when it is fictional that p? We began by considering one answer to this question, implicit in the work of Kendall Walton, that the correct response to a fictional proposition is to imagine that proposition. However, this approach is silent in cases of fictional incompleteness, where neither p nor its negation are fictional. We argue that that Waltonians should embrace a pluralistic account of the cognitive role of fictional incompleteness: in some cases of fictional incompleteness, we are permitted to resolve the incompleteness during our engagement with the target fiction, and in other cases, we are obliged not to resolve the incompleteness. But though pluralism is accommodated by Walton's wider account of fictionality, it puts tension on his motivating idea that fictionality stands to the imagination as truth stands to belief. And so we develop a rival conception of the cognitive role of fictionality that is built around a different analogy: on this evidentialist approach, (known) fictionality stands to the imagination as evidence stands to credence.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Inc. This is the post-peer reviewed version of the following article: Williams, J.R.G. and Woodward, R. (2021), The Cognitive Role of Fictionality. Philos. Phenomenol. Res., 102: 423-438., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12660. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number British Academy BARDA 53286 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Jul 2019 10:38 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jan 2023 10:30 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/phpr.12660 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:148676 |