Object of the mind  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Revision as of 16:42, 16 October 2014
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)

← Previous diff
Revision as of 15:20, 27 September 2017
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)

Next diff →
Line 2: Line 2:
| style="text-align: left;" | "[[Imaginary gardens with real toads in them]]" --[[Marianne Moore]] | style="text-align: left;" | "[[Imaginary gardens with real toads in them]]" --[[Marianne Moore]]
<hr> <hr>
-"In educated opinion, at least, it is commonly reputed as true that ''[[Sherlock Holmes]] lived in London''. (see [[David Lewis]] '[[Truth in Fiction]]', American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 15. No. 1, January 1978) It is also considered true that ''[[Samuel Pepys]] lived in London''. Yet Sherlock Holmes never lived anywhere at all; he is a fictional character. Samuel Pepys, contrarily, is judged to have been a real person. Contemporary interest in Holmes and in Pepys share strong similarities; the only reason why anyone knows either of their names is because of an abiding interest in reading about their alleged deeds and words. These two statements would appear to belong to two different orders of truth. Further problems arise concerning the [[truth value]] of statements about fictional worlds and characters that can be implied but are nowhere explicitly stated by the sources for our knowledge about them, such as ''Sherlock Holmes had only one head'' or ''Sherlock Holmes never travelled to the moon''. --[[The truth of fiction]]+"In educated opinion it is commonly reputed as true that ''[[Sherlock Holmes]] lived in London''. (see [[David Lewis]] '[[Truth in Fiction]]') It is also considered true that ''[[Samuel Pepys]] lived in London''. Yet Sherlock Holmes never lived anywhere at all; he is a fictional character. Samuel Pepys, contrarily, is judged to have been a real person". --Sholem Stein, see ''[[the truth of fiction]]
|} |}
Line 9: Line 9:
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-[[Common sense]] suggests the [[non-existence]] of such things as [[fictional character]]s or [[fictional place]]s. Human beings seem to process information about [[Character (arts)|fictional characters]] in much the same way that they process information about real people. For example, it is the common experience of actresses who play the villain in a soap opera being accosted in public as if they are to blame for the actions of the characters they play.+[[Common sense]] suggests the [[non-existence]] of such things as [[fictional character]]s or [[fictional place]]s. However, human beings seem to process information about [[Character (arts)|fictional characters]] in much the same way that they process information about real people. For example, it is the common experience of actresses who play the villain in a soap opera being accosted in public as if they are to blame for the actions of the characters they play.
A scientist might make a clear distinction about objects that exist, and assert that all objects that exist are made up of either matter or energy. But in the layperson's [[worldview]], existence includes real, fictional, and even contradictory objects. Thus if we reason from the statement "[[Pegasus]] flies" to the statement "Pegasus exists", we are not asserting that Pegasus is made up of atoms, but rather that Pegasus exists in a particular worldview, the worldview of [[classical myth]]. When a mathematician reasons from the statement "ABC is a triangle" to the statement "triangles exist", she is not asserting that triangles are made up of atoms but rather that triangles exist within a particular [[mathematical model]]. A scientist might make a clear distinction about objects that exist, and assert that all objects that exist are made up of either matter or energy. But in the layperson's [[worldview]], existence includes real, fictional, and even contradictory objects. Thus if we reason from the statement "[[Pegasus]] flies" to the statement "Pegasus exists", we are not asserting that Pegasus is made up of atoms, but rather that Pegasus exists in a particular worldview, the worldview of [[classical myth]]. When a mathematician reasons from the statement "ABC is a triangle" to the statement "triangles exist", she is not asserting that triangles are made up of atoms but rather that triangles exist within a particular [[mathematical model]].

Revision as of 15:20, 27 September 2017

"Imaginary gardens with real toads in them" --Marianne Moore

"In educated opinion it is commonly reputed as true that Sherlock Holmes lived in London. (see David Lewis 'Truth in Fiction') It is also considered true that Samuel Pepys lived in London. Yet Sherlock Holmes never lived anywhere at all; he is a fictional character. Samuel Pepys, contrarily, is judged to have been a real person". --Sholem Stein, see the truth of fiction

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

Common sense suggests the non-existence of such things as fictional characters or fictional places. However, human beings seem to process information about fictional characters in much the same way that they process information about real people. For example, it is the common experience of actresses who play the villain in a soap opera being accosted in public as if they are to blame for the actions of the characters they play.

A scientist might make a clear distinction about objects that exist, and assert that all objects that exist are made up of either matter or energy. But in the layperson's worldview, existence includes real, fictional, and even contradictory objects. Thus if we reason from the statement "Pegasus flies" to the statement "Pegasus exists", we are not asserting that Pegasus is made up of atoms, but rather that Pegasus exists in a particular worldview, the worldview of classical myth. When a mathematician reasons from the statement "ABC is a triangle" to the statement "triangles exist", she is not asserting that triangles are made up of atoms but rather that triangles exist within a particular mathematical model.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Non-existence" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Personal tools