Truth in Fiction

Rethinking its Logic

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Reference, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book Truth in Fiction by John Woods, Springer International Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John Woods ISBN: 9783319726588
Publisher: Springer International Publishing Publication: February 23, 2018
Imprint: Springer Language: English
Author: John Woods
ISBN: 9783319726588
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Publication: February 23, 2018
Imprint: Springer
Language: English

This monograph examines truth in fiction by applying the techniques of a naturalized logic of human cognitive practices. The author structures his project around two focal questions. What would it take to write a book about truth in literary discourse with reasonable promise of getting it right? What would it take to write a book about truth in fiction as true to the facts of lived literary experience as objectivity allows?

It is argued that the most semantically distinctive feature of the sentences of fiction is that they are*unambiguously *true and false together. It is true that Sherlock Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street and also concurrently false that he did. A second distinctive feature of fiction is that the reader at large knows of this inconsistency and isn’t in the least cognitively molested by it. Why, it is asked, would this be so? What would explain it?

Two answers are developed. According to the no-contradiction thesis, the semantically tangled sentences of fiction are indeed logically inconsistent but not logically contradictory. According to the no-bother thesis, if the inconsistencies of fiction were contradictory, a properly contrived logic for the rational management of inconsistency would explain why readers at large are not thrown off cognitive stride by their embrace of those contradictions. As developed here, the account of fiction suggests the presence of an underlying three - or four-valued dialethic logic. The author shows this to be a mistaken impression. There are only two truth-values in his logic of fiction.

The naturalized logic of *Truth in Fiction *jettisons some of the standard assumptions and analytical tools of contemporary philosophy, chiefly because the neurotypical linguistic and cognitive behaviour of humanity at large is at variance with them. Using the resources of a causal response epistemology in tandem with the naturalized logic, the theory produced here is data-driven, empirically sensitive, and open to a circumspect collaboration with the empirical sciences of language and cognition.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This monograph examines truth in fiction by applying the techniques of a naturalized logic of human cognitive practices. The author structures his project around two focal questions. What would it take to write a book about truth in literary discourse with reasonable promise of getting it right? What would it take to write a book about truth in fiction as true to the facts of lived literary experience as objectivity allows?

It is argued that the most semantically distinctive feature of the sentences of fiction is that they are*unambiguously *true and false together. It is true that Sherlock Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street and also concurrently false that he did. A second distinctive feature of fiction is that the reader at large knows of this inconsistency and isn’t in the least cognitively molested by it. Why, it is asked, would this be so? What would explain it?

Two answers are developed. According to the no-contradiction thesis, the semantically tangled sentences of fiction are indeed logically inconsistent but not logically contradictory. According to the no-bother thesis, if the inconsistencies of fiction were contradictory, a properly contrived logic for the rational management of inconsistency would explain why readers at large are not thrown off cognitive stride by their embrace of those contradictions. As developed here, the account of fiction suggests the presence of an underlying three - or four-valued dialethic logic. The author shows this to be a mistaken impression. There are only two truth-values in his logic of fiction.

The naturalized logic of *Truth in Fiction *jettisons some of the standard assumptions and analytical tools of contemporary philosophy, chiefly because the neurotypical linguistic and cognitive behaviour of humanity at large is at variance with them. Using the resources of a causal response epistemology in tandem with the naturalized logic, the theory produced here is data-driven, empirically sensitive, and open to a circumspect collaboration with the empirical sciences of language and cognition.

More books from Springer International Publishing

Cover of the book Aortic Dissection: Simulation Tools for Disease Management and Understanding by John Woods
Cover of the book An Ecological Theory of Free Expression by John Woods
Cover of the book Synthetic Biology – Metabolic Engineering by John Woods
Cover of the book Self-Oscillations in Dynamic Systems by John Woods
Cover of the book Historical Urban Landscape by John Woods
Cover of the book Socio-technical Design of Ubiquitous Computing Systems by John Woods
Cover of the book Structural Injustices in Swedish Education by John Woods
Cover of the book The SAGES Manual of Pediatric Minimally Invasive Surgery by John Woods
Cover of the book Computational Plasticity for Finite Elements by John Woods
Cover of the book Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry by John Woods
Cover of the book Understanding an Orogenic Belt by John Woods
Cover of the book Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement by John Woods
Cover of the book RNA Metabolism and Gene Expression in Archaea by John Woods
Cover of the book America, Britain and Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons Programme, 1974-1980 by John Woods
Cover of the book Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management by John Woods
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy