Abstract

There are two kinds of mainstream realist views of fictional characters: (1) They are abstract entities, created by the writers. They do not genuinely possess the properties ascribed to them in the fiction. (2) They are non-existent objects (alternatively, abstract objects) that do genuinely possess the properties ascribed in the fiction. The dissertation criticizes (1) and (2) and argues for a third realist view, according to which fictional characters exist and have the properties ascribed in the fiction. That solves some of the semantic and metaphysical problems associated with (1) and (2), and makes better sense of our ways of speaking about fictional characters.