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Responding Emotionally to Fiction: A Spinozist Approach
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2019
Abstract
Within contemporary analytical philosophy there continues to be a lively debate about the emotions we feel for fictional characters. How, for example, can we feel sad about Anna Karenina, despite knowing that she doesn't exist? I propose that we can get a clearer view of this issue by turning to Spinoza, who urges us to take a different approach to feelings of this kind. The ability to keep our emotions in line with our beliefs, he argues, is a complex skill. Rather than asking why we depart from it in the case of fictions, we need to begin by considering how we get it in the first place. Spinoza also considers the value of this skill. In his account, fictions function rather like Donald Winnicott's transitional objects. They enable us to negotiate the boundary between the real and the imaginary in a way that contributes to our philosophical understanding. These Spinozist proposals, I contend, suggest that the questions dominating current debate need to be reformulated.
- Type
- Papers
- Information
- Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements , Volume 85: Passions and the Emotions , July 2019 , pp. 195 - 210
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy and the contributors 2019
Footnotes
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions made by audiences at the Royal Institute of Philosophy and Manchester Metropolitan University. I owe special thanks to Stacie Friend, Moira Gatens, Anthony O'Hear and Quentin Skinner.
References
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