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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Philosophy

Postgraduate Course: The Philosophy of Fiction MSc (PHIL11148)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course will introduce and examine a number of philosophical issues raised by fiction.

Shared with undergraduate course The Philosophy of Fiction PHIL10153.

For courses co-taught with undergraduate students and with no remaining undergraduate spaces left, a maximum of 8 MSc students can join the course. Priority will be given to MSc students who wish to take the course for credit on a first come first served basis after matriculation.
Course description The course will aim to cover topics at the intersection of aesthetics and epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophies of language and mind: the nature of fiction; whether fictional characters exist and if so, what they are; whether we can gain real-world knowledge from engaging with fiction; the problem of "imaginative resistance" (why we cannot 'suspend disbelief' on things like principles of morality when engaging with fiction); and the "paradox of fiction" (how can we, for example, fear Darth Vader when we don't believe he's real), and whether we need a new psychological state (a 'alief' in Gendler's terminology) to solve it.

Syllabus
Week 1: Does Sherlock Holmes exist and is he a detective?
Week 2: Realism about fictional characters
Week 3: Irrealism about fictional characters
Week 4: Fictionalism
Week 5: What is Fiction?
Week 6: Truth in Fiction
Week 7: Learning from Fiction
Week 8: The Puzzle of Imaginative Resistance
Week 9: The Paradox of Fiction
Week 10: Alief
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  8
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 20, Revision Session Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) A 2500 word final essay [100%]

Assessment deadline: Thursday 17th December 2015 by 12 noon.
Return Deadline: Thursday 21st January 2016
Feedback Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay by week 6 deadline on Turnitin via Learn. The essay cannot be draft of summative essay but it can be on the same topic.

Formative essay deadline: Thursday 29th October 2015 by 12 noon
Return deadline: Friday 20th November 2015

No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate core skills in philosophy, including interpreting and critically engaging with philosophical texts, evaluating arguments and theories, and developing one's own ideas in response to the issues discussed.
  2. acquire knowledge of the main theories of the nature of fiction and the nature of fictional characters and the main responses to the paradox of fiction and the puzzle of imaginative resistance.
  3. analyze the strengths and weakness of these theories and responses.
Reading List
Textbook: Sainsbury, R.M. Fiction and Fictionalism. Routledge. The class would cover the first five chapters of this book, with the other readings being drawn from the following list:
Friend, Stacie. 2007. Fictional Characters. Philosophy Compass 2: 141-56.
Friend, Stacie. 2011. Fiction as a Genre. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Vol. 112: 163-80.
Friend, Stacie. 2014. Believing in Stories. In Greg Currie, Matthew Kieran, Aaron Meskin, and Jon Robson, eds. Aesthetics and the Sciences of the Mind. Oxford University Press.
Gendler, Tamar Szabo. 2000. The Puzzle of Imaginative Resistance. Reprinted in Gendler. 2010. Intuition, Imagination, and Philosophical Methodology. Oxford University Press.]
Gendler, Tamar Szabo. 2006. Imaginative Resistance Revisited. Reprinted in Gendler. 2010. Intuition, Imagination, and Philosophical Methodology. Oxford University Press.
Gendler, Tamar Szabo and Kovakovich, Karson. 2005. Genuine Rational Fictional Emotions. Reprinted in Gendler. 2010. Intuition, Imagination, and Philosophical Methodology. Oxford University Press.
Gendler, Tamar Szabo. 2008. Alief and Belief. Reprinted in Gendler. 2010. Intuition, Imagination, and Philosophical Methodology. Oxford University Press.
Gendler, Tamar Szabo. 2008. Alief in Action (and Reaction). Reprinted in Gendler. 2010. Intuition, Imagination, and Philosophical Methodology. Oxford University Press.
Kripke, Saul. 2013. Reference and Existence. Oxford University Press.
Lewis, David. 1978. Truth in Fiction. American Philosophical Quarterly 15: 37-46.
Radford, Colin. 1975. How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina? Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 69: 67-80.
Stock, Kathleen. 2005. Resisting Imaginative Resistance. Philosophical Quarterly 55: 607-24.
Stock, Kathleen. 2011. Fictive Utterance and Imagining. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Vol. 112: 145-61.
Thomasson, Amie. 1999. Fiction and Metaphysics. Cambridge University Press.
van Inwagen, Peter. 1977. Creatures of Fiction. American Philosophical Quarterly 14: 299-308.
Waldon, Kendall. 1990. Mimesis as Make-Believe. Harvard University Press.
Weatherson, Brian. 2004. Morality, Fiction, and Possibility. Philosophers' Imprint 4: 1-27.

Advanced reading list available on Learn.
Additional Information
Course URL Please see Learn
Graduate Attributes and Skills Writing skills, interpreting texts, evaluating arguments and theories
Additional Class Delivery Information The course will be taught by Dr Aidan McGlynn apart from Week 1, which will be taught by Dr Bryan Pickel.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Aidan Mcglynn
Tel: (0131 6)51 6333
Email: amcglynn@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk
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