1. Read: Walton, "Fearing Fictions" and IEP's "Paradox of Fiction" (http://www.iep.utm.edu/fict-par/)
The Paradox (from Radford, 1975):
1. In order to be fully emotionally moved by any x, one must know or believe that x exists or might exist.
2. The x's of fiction do not exist.
3. One can be fully emotionally moved by the x's of fiction.
(The paradox can be dissolved only by rejecting one of these three assertions. While Radford concludes that our reaction to fictional entities is simply irrational, the "pretend theory" (Walton) denies 3; the "thought theory" denies 1; and the "illusion theory" denies 2.)
