Lee Walters
Discipline:
Philosophy
Institution:
University of Southampton, UK
Project Title:
Fictional Characters and Their Names
Project Abstract:
Our thought and talk about fiction generates a number of philosophical puzzles, and provides a test case for semantic and metaphysical theories. For instance, on the one hand we seem to be irrealists about fictional characters, since it is true that Sherlock Holmes does not exist, but on the other we seem to be realists about fictional characters since Sherlock Holmes was created by Conan Doyle. The overriding aim of my project is to provide an account of fictional characters which does justice both the irrealist and realist aspects of our thought.
