SENIOR SEMINAR: FICTION AND FICTIONALISM
(PHIL 483, Sec. 1001)
    Reading Assignments

    (Readings from the textbook, Fiction and Fictionalism, by R. M. Sainsbury, are listed by author and chapter number, followed by page numbers in parentheses. There are also quite a few further readings by other authors that are labeled "online". These are available on the WebCampus-Canvas page for the course, in the Course Readings section of the Modules area, linked in the side menu.)

  • For Aug. 31: Read Sainsbury, Introduction (pp. 1-3). Then read Currie, "The Concept of Fiction" (pp. 1-12 from Ch. 1 of The Nature of Fiction) (online) and Searle, "The Logical Status of Fictional Discourse" (online). [For a bit more on the Speech Act Theory approach Searle takes, I also uploaded his "What is a Speech Act?" as an optional extra reading.]
  • For Sep. 5: Labor Day!--No class.
  • For Sep. 7: Read Sainsbury, Ch. 1 (pp. 4-12) and Currie, "The Concept of Fiction" (pp. 12-35) (online).
  • For Sep. 12: Read Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe, Ch. 1, Secs. 1.5 and 1.7 (pp. 35-43 and 51-54) (online) and Woodward, "Walton on Fictionality" (online). Then read Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe, Ch. 2 (pp. 70-105) (online) and finish Currie, "The Concept of Fiction" (pp. 35-51) (online).
  • For Sep. 14: Re-read Woodward, "Walton on Fictionality." Then finish Sainsbury, Ch. 1 (pp. 12-21) and read Friend, "Imagining Fact and Fiction" (online).
  • For Sep. 19: Read Friend, "Fiction as a Genre" (online). Then read the Intro and Section 1 ("The Nature of Fiction") of Kroon and Voltolini, "Fiction" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online).
  • For Sep. 21: Read Sainsbury Ch. 2 (pp. 22-31) and Ch. 4 (pp. 68-82 on possible worlds). Then read Lewis, "Truth in Fiction" (online) and "Postscripts to 'Truth in Fiction'" (online).
  • For Sep. 26: Read Woodward, "Truth in Fiction" (online). Then read Sections 1.9 and 1.10 (pp. 57-69) from Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe, Ch. 1 (online). Finally, read Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe, Ch. 4 (online).
  • For Sep. 28: Read Section 2, "Truth in Fiction" of Kroon and Voltolini, "Fiction" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online).
  • For Oct. 3: Submit your Reflection Essay by midnight.
  • For Oct. 5: Read Sainsbury, Ch. 2 (pp. 32-43), Ch. 3, and Ch. 4 (pp. 82-90). Then read Kroon and Voltolini, "Fictional Entities" in SEP (online).
  • For Oct. 10: Watch the Make-Up Class Video I will post on Saturday 10/8 that gets started on the issue of the ontological status of fictional characters. Then read Thomasson, "Fictional Characters and Literary Practices" and "Speaking of Fictional Characters" (both online) and Sainsbury, Ch. 5.
  • For Oct. 12: Read Zvolenszky, "Abstract Artifact Theory about Fictional Characters Defended" (online).
  • For Oct. 17: Read Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe, Ch. 10 and Friend, "Fictional Characters" (both online). Then read Sainsbury, Ch. 6. Also, check out the topics for the First Paper, which will be due by midnight on Sunday 10/30.
  • For Oct. 19: Read Everett, "Against Fictional Realism" (online).
  • For Oct. 24: Re-read Walton, Mimesis as Make-Believe, Ch. 10, and Everett, "Against Fictional Realism" (both online).
  • For Oct. 26: Read Sainsbury, Ch. 7; Kroon, "Fictionalism in Metaphysics" (online); and Kalderon, "Introduction" to Fictionalism in Metaphysics (online).
  • For Oct. 30: Sunday: Submit your First Paper before midnight!
  • For Oct. 31: Read Caddick Bourne, "Fictionalism" (online). Then read Eklund, "Fictionalism" in SEP (online).
  • For Nov. 2: Read Armour-Garb and Woodbridge, "Philosophical Fictionalism," Ch. 1 of Pretense and Pathology: Philosophical Fictionalism and its Applications (online).
  • For Nov. 7: Re-read Sainsbury, Ch. 7 (pp. 161-174). Then read Field, "Introduction: Fictionalism, Epistemology and Modality" (online).
  • For Nov. 9: Read Leng, "Mathematics and Make-Believe" (online).
  • For Nov. 14: Re-read Field, "Introduction: Fictionalism, Epistemology and Modality" and Leng, "Mathematics and Make-Believe" (both online). Then read Rosen, "Modal Fictionalism" (online).
  • For Nov. 16: Read Sainsbury, Ch. 8.
  • For Nov. 21: Read Joyce, "Moral Fictionalism" (online) and Sainsbury, Ch. 9.
  • For Nov. 23: Read Kroon, "Descriptivism, Pretense, and the Frege-Russell Problems" and Richard, "Semantic Pretense" (both online). Also, check out the topics for the Second Paper, which is "officially" due on Sunday 12/4.
  • For Nov. 28: (Re-)read Richard, "Semantic Pretense" and Kroon, "Descriptivism, Pretense, and the Frege-Russell Problems". Then read Stanley, "Hermeneutic Fictionalism" (all online).
  • For Nov. 30: Read Armour-Garb and Woodbridge, "Semantic Pretense-Involving Fictionalism and Existence-Talk," Ch. 2 of Pretense and Pathology: Philosophical Fictionalism and its Applications (online).
  • For Dec. 5: Re-read Stanley, "Hermeneutic Fictionalism" and Armour-Garb and Woodbridge, "Semantic Pretense-Involving Fictionalism and Existence-Talk" (both online).
  • For Dec. 7: Read Armour-Garb and Woodbridge, "Deflationism as Alethic Fictionalism via a SPIF Account of Truth-Talk" (online).
  • For Dec. 14: Study for the Final Exam, which will be LIVE REMOTE, given via WebCampus/Canvas during the scheduled exam time for our class (10:10am-12:10pm).
Last updated December 8, 2022

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This document was created on August 1, 2022.