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1 730:362 Philosophy of Literature: the Nature of Fiction Summer 2010

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1 730:362 Philosophy of Literature: the Nature of Fiction Summer 2010 730:362 Philosophy of Literature: The Nature of Fiction Summer 2010 Instructor: Pavel Davydov DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE Whether through the medium of writing, television or word of mouth, all of us have en- countered and engaged with countless fictions since we were children. Production and consumption of fictional stories is arguably pandemic among human cultures. It is also a characteristically human activity. However, philosophy makes it apparent that the nature of this activity is far from clear. Consider the sentence Sherlock Holmes lived on Baker Street . Is it true, or is it false? Perhaps there is no simple, unequivocal answer to such questions. Nonetheless, we begin this course by examining various strategies for answering them. Next, we consider fictional objects (characters) and fictional worlds (settings). What is the metaphysical nature of Sherlock Holmes and other fictional characters? What sorts of entities are they? What is it that we talk about when we talk about fiction? Now consider the sentence Sherlock Holmes was not an illegitimate child of Queen Vic- toria . Conan Doyle’s stories tell us nothing either way. What is the status of such claims, then? How far do fictional worlds extend and where do their boundaries lie? How much detail do they contain? What are the roles of the fiction’s author and of its audience (e.g., the readers) in determining these boundaries? We conclude with a selection from a set of narrower, more applied questions. Can it be true (in a fiction) that murder of innocents is morally acceptable? How does truth in fic- tion relate to the author’s beliefs about such matters? How are fictions different from lies? What is the relationship between fiction and mythology? Fiction and metaphor? READINGS We are going to read selections from works by some classical authors (Plato, Aristotle and Giambattista Vico) as well as the works by several contemporary philosophers (in- cluding Gregory Currie, Donald Davidson, David Lewis, Graham Priest, Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, and Kendall Walton). You must purchase the following three books: • Currie, Gregory (1990). The Nature of Fiction . Cambridge University Press. • Sainsbury, R. M. (2009). Fiction and Fictionalism . Routledge. • Walton, Kendall (1990). Mimesis as Make-Believe . Harvard University Press. 1 These books should be available at the Rutgers Bookstore. We are not going to read any of them in their entirety, but we will read substantial portions of each of them. The rest of the readings will be available online, on the course website. OUTLINE OF THE COURSE [Note (1): Entries in smaller font are optional readings. Note (2): The final course sched- ule may vary slightly.] (1) Philosophy of Literature: Early Works • Plato, selections from The Republic (handout) • Aristotle, selections from Poetics (handout) • Giambattista Vico, selections from The New Science (handout) (2) Philosophy of Literature: Recent Discussion • Hilary Putnam, ‘Is there a Fact of the Matter about Fiction?’ (online) • Richard Rorty, ‘Is there a Problem about Literary Discourse?’ (online) • Donald Davidson, ‘Locating Literary Language’ (online) (3) Fiction and Nonfiction • Kendall Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe , chapter 2 • Gregory Currie, The Nature of Fiction , chapter 1 (4) Pretense: Kendall Walton • Kendall Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe , chapters 5-7 (5) Pretense: Gregory Currie • Gregory Currie, The Nature of Fiction , chapters 3 and 5 (6) Truth in Fiction • David Lewis, ‘Truth in Fiction’ (online) • Angelika Kratzer, ‘Semantics of Fiction’ (online) • R. M. Sainsbury, Fiction and Fictionalism , chapter 4 • Alex Byrne, ‘Truth in Fiction: The Story Continued’ (online) • Richard Hanley, ‘As Good as It Gets: David Lewis on Truth in Fiction (online)’ (7) Sylvan’s Box • Graham Priest, ‘Sylvan’s Box: A Short Story and Ten Morals’ (online) • Daniel Nolan, ‘A Consistent Reading of Sylvan’s Box ’ (online) (8) Fictional Characters • Kendall Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe , chapter 3 • Gregory Currie, The Nature of Fiction , chapter 4 • Stacie Friend, ‘Fictional Characters’ (online) • Peter Ludlow, ‘From Sherlock and Buffy to Klingon and Norrathian Platinum Pieces’ (online) 2 (9) Realism and Anti-Realism about Fictional Objects • R. M. Sainsbury, Fiction and Fictionalism , chapters 2-3 • Edward Zalta, ‘Referring to Fictional Objects’ (online) • Peter Van Inwagen, ‘Fiction and Metaphysics’ (online) (10) Fictional Objects as Artifacts • R. M. Sainsbury, Fiction and Fictionalism , chapter 5 • Aimee Thomasson, Fiction and Metaphysics , chapter ??? (online) (11) Fiction outside of Fiction I • R. M. Sainsbury, Fiction and Fictionalism , chapter 9 • Brian Weatherson, ‘Morality, Fiction, and Possibility’ (online) (12) Fiction outside of Fiction II • Kendall Walton, ‘Metaphor as Prop-Oriented Make-Believe’ (online) • Brendan Jackson, ‘Truth vs. Pretense in Discourse about Motion’ (online) ASSIGNMENTS , GRADING , AND COURSE POLICIES There will be daily one-question in-class quizzes (one at the beginning and one at the end of class), two short (1-2 pages) reading responses, and one long (8-10 pages) paper due at the beginning of the last meeting. • The quizzes are worth 15% of the final grade. • The reading responses are worth 15% each (30% total). • The paper is worth 40% of the final grade. • The remaining 15% are determined by attendance and participation in class dis- cussions. All assignments are due at the beginning of the class ( not when you come into the class- room!). Students have the option of writing their two reading responses on any of the readings, provided they write and submit one of them on a text from one of the first five meetings and one on any of the subsequent ones. A list of possible topics for the final paper will be distributed during the first half of the semester. No more than two students may write papers on the same topic. The topics are going to be assigned on the “first come, first serve” basis. Both reading responses, as well as the term paper, must be submitted in order to pass the course. Reading responses and papers must be submitted electronically to turnitin.com, which helps instructors check for plagiarism. Both the hard copy and the electronic copy must be submitted on time. 3 Summer semesters are very short. Therefore, late work will not be accepted! This means that the students who do not submit their first reading response by the beginning of the fifth meeting are going to get zero on it. Similarly, those who do not submit their second reading response or their term paper by the beginning of the last meeting are going to get zero on whatever assignment they fail to submit on time. (Getting a zero does not ab- solve you from the requirement to submit it in order to pass the course!) Students must answer both quiz questions asked each day in order to get grades on either. There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes. (Students with legitimate documented excuses, such as illness or serious family emergency, will get reasonable extensions and will have the quiz component of the grade determined entirely by the ones they do write.) Any student caught violating the university’s rules concerning academic integrity (plagia- rism, etc.) is going to be subject to the full force of the very strict penalties these rules specify. We are going to discuss this in more detail during the first week of class, but it is your responsibility to make sure that you’re in compliance with the relevant rules. Cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices should not be used during the class. Students who must come in late or leave early should make sure that they disrupt the class as little as possible. Class discussion should be conducted in orderly and respectful manner. 4 .
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