I am starting research for a term paper in a metaphysics class and have chosen the topic "Do Fictional Characters Exist?" I read Peter Van Inwagen's "Creatures of Fiction" as well as a couple journal articles that seem to be in disagreement with him on the question. Does anyone here have any other recommendations for good articles on the topic of fictional realism (either for or against)? Thanks for your help.
Here are a few of my favorites: Scholes, Robert (1968), Elements of Fiction (New York: Oxford University Press). [a very short book, really just a long article] Lewis, David (1978), "Truth in Fiction,'' American Philosophical Quarterly 15: 37-46. Castañeda, Hector-Neri (1979), "Fiction and Reality: Their Fundamental Connections; An Essay on the Ontology of Total Experience,'' Poetics 8: 31-62. Parsons, Terence (1975), "A Meinongian Analysis of Fictional Objects,'' Grazer Philosophische Studien 1: 73-86. plus, of course, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fiction/
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