You are cordially invited to this talk hosted by the Department of English Language and Literature, with the collaboration of the Department of Philosophy.
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Time: 17:30-19:00
Room: H-232
Title: ‘Representations and Face-to-Face Encounters: Why They Matter for the Philosophy of Fiction’
Professor Derek Matravers
Abstract: This paper will argue that philosophers working on fiction have paid insufficient attention to the distinction between representations and face-to-face encounters. This paper will sketch the relevant differences. There are three sets of implications all of which undermine the relevance of the fiction/non-fiction distinction within representations. First, the ‘standard’ problems in the philosophy of fiction are simply part of these differences. Second, an account of what it is to engage with a representation pays no attention to the fiction/non-fiction distinction – nor, rather surprisingly, to the imagination. Third, the ‘booksellers’ distinction between fiction and non-fiction can still be made, and the true/false distinction is left untouched.
Biographical note: Derek Matravers is Professor of Philosophy at the Open University and a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. He has written on various areas of aesthetics and the philosophy of art, as well as in ethics and the philosophy of mind.