Fictional Characters as Story-Free Denoting Concepts

Some realist views about fiction are non-objectual in that they see fictional characters not as objects but rather as properties or the like; notably, kinds, roles, or denoting concepts. The view centered on denoting concepts proposed in Orilia’s “A Theory of Fictional Entities Based on Denoting Concepts” (2012) is presented in this paper with further motivations and details and in relation to issues not previously dealt with from its perspective. This view differs from other proposals of this sort, such as those by Cocchiarella and Landini, for its flexibility in allowing for story-free fictional characters: they can migrate from one story to another. This migration is granted in two ways, one that relies on the preservation of salient common features and another grounded on an appropriate causal connection between stories, typically involving authorial intentions. A more detailed account of this connection and of its interplay with the preservation of salient features is elaborated. Moreover, the phenomenon of fictionally non-existent characters (as in fiction within fiction) is addressed. Finally, the presence in fiction of historical, plural, indeterminate, and identity-inconsistent characters is examined and analyzed in terms of denoting concepts.