Matters of Fact and Fiction

"A popular way to draw the line between fiction and nonfiction is in terms of facts: while works of nonfiction purport to tell the truth about the real world, works of fiction trade in the merely invented and imagined. This contrast between fiction and fact is familiar in popular culture and literary studies, and it also explains the philosophical focus on certain puzzles. What are we thinking about when we think about fictional characters? How can we make true claims about them? Why do we become emotionally involved with people who never existed? How can we learn from fictions if they are false? Motivating standard approaches to all these questions is the assumption that fiction is essentially opposed to reality. In opposition to this familiar landscape, Stacie Friend argues that the contrast between fiction and fact is fundamentally misguided. On her account, works of fiction are about reality, even if they invite us to imagine it differently from how it actually is"-- Provided by publisher.