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Article

How to Create Indeterminately Identical Fictional Objects

Department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti”, University of Milan, 20122 Milano, Italy
Philosophies 2023, 8(4), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies8040056
Submission received: 14 May 2023 / Revised: 22 June 2023 / Accepted: 25 June 2023 / Published: 26 June 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiction and Metaphysics)

Abstract

Suppose that fictional objects are abstract objects dependent for their existence and their identity on the creative intentions of their authors. Is an author who intends to create indeterminately identical fictional objects committed to incoherent created objects? My claim is that she is not so committed. I argue that indeterminate identity is an ambiguous notion, allowing for an incoherent interpretation and for at least three coherent ones; and I show that if an author of fiction applies coherent indeterminate identity when creating fictional objects, she succeeds in creating coherent objects, whereas she fails to create fictional objects when she tries to apply incoherent indeterminate identity in her creation. In so doing, I offer a reply to a challenge first raised by Everett against realist philosophers on fictional objects and more recently reproposed by Friedell, allowing for the creation of fictional objects along the lines proposed by Evnine.
Keywords: fictional objects; creationism about fictional objects; indeterminate identity; Evnine; Friedell fictional objects; creationism about fictional objects; indeterminate identity; Evnine; Friedell

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Paganini, E. How to Create Indeterminately Identical Fictional Objects. Philosophies 2023, 8, 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies8040056

AMA Style

Paganini E. How to Create Indeterminately Identical Fictional Objects. Philosophies. 2023; 8(4):56. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies8040056

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paganini, Elisa. 2023. "How to Create Indeterminately Identical Fictional Objects" Philosophies 8, no. 4: 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies8040056

APA Style

Paganini, E. (2023). How to Create Indeterminately Identical Fictional Objects. Philosophies, 8(4), 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies8040056

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