Much Ado About Nonexistence

Fiction and Reference

By: Avrum Stroll, Hatem Rushdy (Editor)

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Paperback | 26 April 2007

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176 Pages

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23.4 x 15.3 x 1.1

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The problem of the nature of fiction and the problem of nonexistence are closely tied because fiction often talks about nonexistent entities. In Fiction, Reference, and Nonexistence, A. P. Martinich and Avrum Stroll, two of America''s leading philosophers, explore fiction and undertake an analytic philosophical study of fiction and its reference and its relation to truth. Included in the discussion is the authors'' new, contemporary theory of fiction developed as an extension of the speech act theory of H. P. Grice, as well as the relationship between nonexistence and Bertrand Russell''s well-known theory of definite descriptions, and Hilary Putnam''s theory of the relationship between common names and the world.

Industry Reviews

Rejecting standard presuppositions that have guided much of the debate about fictional discourse, Stroll and Martinich offer a novel approach to fictional discourse-indeed, theirs is clearly the most developed and important ordinary language-style treatment of fictional discourse available. This is essential reading for anyone interested in fictional discourse, and also will be relevant to those with broader concerns about meaning and reference and the relation between fiction and history. -- Amie Thomasson, University of Miami
An interesting, enlightening book. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and up. * CHOICE, Vol. 45 No. 6 (February 2008) *
A. P. Martinich and Avrum Stroll have written a crisply argued and fascinating book about fiction and reference. Clear and penetrating, the book performs its two tasks-as a study in the philosophy of language of the nature of reference and a defense of a conception of fictional discourse-in such a way that students are bound to learn a great deal about both. It will serve as an excellent survey of some major developments in twentieth century philosophy of language as well as a providing a compelling view of what fictional discourse is. -- Michael L. Morgan, Chancellor's Professor, Department of Philosophy, Indiana University

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