Il paradosso della finzione: un nuovo ruolo per un antico dilemma

The term “paradox of fiction” means the puzzle by which, when we see a film or read a book, we feel emotions before fictional events, even knowing that the characters involved do not exist. The dilemma has been at the center of the debate in the analytic philosophy of art. However, it has not been a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Giulio Sacco
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Rosenberg & Sellier 2024-12-01
Series:Rivista di Estetica
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/estetica/17996
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Summary:The term “paradox of fiction” means the puzzle by which, when we see a film or read a book, we feel emotions before fictional events, even knowing that the characters involved do not exist. The dilemma has been at the center of the debate in the analytic philosophy of art. However, it has not been adequately confronted by the philosophers of emotion. In the article, I show why dealing with the paradox of fiction from the perspective of the philosophy of emotion could be useful both for the study of emotion and for the philosophy of art. After having outlined the usual argumentative patterns in the philosophy of emotion, I argue that the paradox of fiction can be used as the counterpart of the so-called problem of recalcitrant emotions (i.e., the emotions that contradict our better judgments), to evaluate the major accounts of emotion. I will show how my approach overlaps some recent attempts, among the philosophers of art, at renewing the debate about the paradox of fiction and that it can help philosophers of emotion to assess their theories. Finally, I will apply the test I propose to the cognitive account of emotion, arguing that, contrary to a widespread cliché, it does not commit us to the claim that our emotions for fiction are either irrational or non-genuine.
ISSN:0035-6212
2421-5864