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THE IDENTITY OF FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

A Philosophical Survey
Michele Paolini Paoletti, Jansan Favazzo, Francesco Orilia
Anno di edizione: 2025
Editore: EUM Edizioni Università di Macerata
Collana:Monografie fuori collana
Descrizione
Is Homer’s Ulysses the same character as Dante’s Ulysses? How many characters are involved in Sauron’s orcs army? And what about fictional people featuring in inconsistent stories? These and similar conundrums regard the identity of the mysterious inhabitants of fictions: fictional characters (ficta, for short). This book tackles such issues from the standpoint of three major metaphysical perspectives – objectual realism (ficta as objects), non-objectual realism (ficta as properties),
anti-realism – and in interplay with literary interpretive practices.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Objectual Realism
1. Meinongian Theories
1.1. Predication Meinongianism
1.2. Feature Meinongianism
1.3. Modal Meinongianism
2. Creationist Theories

Chapter 2. Non-Objectual Realism
1. Ficta as Story-Free Kinds
2. Ficta as Story-Bound Roles
3. Ficta as Denoting Concepts
3.1. Ficta as Story-Bound Denoting Concepts
3.2. Ficta as Story-Free Denoting Concepts
4. Case Studies

Chapter 3. Anti-Realism
1. Semantic Approach
1.1. Millian-Friendly Accounts
1.2. Unorthodox Accounts
2. Pretense-Theoretic Approach
2.1. Prefix Strategy Extended
2.2. Games of Make-Believe
3. No Identity Without Entity?

Chapter 4. The Identity of Ficta and Literary Interpretation

References


Michele Paolini Paoletti is an Associate Professor in Philosophy of Language at the University of Macerata. His research focuses on foundational ontological issues. His most recent book is The Ontology of Relations (Routledge 2024).

Francesco Orilia is a Professor in Philosophy of Language at the University of Macerata. His works range on topics such as the logical paradoxes and temporal ontology and include Singular Reference. A Descriptivist Perspective (Springer 2010).

Jansan Favazzo is a Researcher at the University of Macerata. He has authored several articles about the semantics and the ontology of fiction. His research interests include metaphysics, philosophy of language, and aesthetics.


Titolo

The Identity of Fictional Characters

Sottotitolo

A Philosophical Survey

Autori

Michele Paolini Paoletti, Jansan Favazzo, Francesco Orilia

Pagine

209

Anno di edizione

2025

Editore

EUM Edizioni Università di Macerata

Collana

Monografie fuori collana

Supporto

Digitale

Formato

PDF

E-ISBN

979-12-5704-053-6

Condizioni di vendita

Open Access