Empty Names, Fictional Names, Mythical Names

Braun, David

doi:10.1111/j.0029-4624.2005.00541.x

Cited by 151 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…On this approach, we would distinguish between (1) and (3) by appeal, not to different propositions, but instead to the different ways in which the same gappy proposition is to be imagined. Braun (2005) suggests that there would be a difference between imagining in a ''Gregor-ish'' way or a ''Hamlet-ish'' way. Of course the problem is to explain which type of imagining counts as ''Gregor-ish'' and which type counts as ''Hamlet-ish.''…”

Section: Standard Accountsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The great beetle debate: a study in imagining with names

Friend

2009

Philos Stud

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Statements about fictional characters, such as ''Gregor Samsa has been changed into a beetle,'' pose the problem of how we can say something true (or false) using empty names. I propose an original solution to this problem that construes such utterances as reports of the ''prescriptions to imagine'' generated by works of fiction. In particular, I argue that we should construe these utterances as specifying, not what we are supposed to imagine-the propositional object of the imagining-but how we are supposed to imagine. Most other theories of thought and discourse about fictional characters either fail to capture the intentionality of our imaginings, or else obscure the differences between imaginings directed toward fictional characters and those directed toward real individuals. I argue that once we have an account of prescriptions to imagine about real individuals, we can adapt the same framework to specify the contents of prescriptions to imagine about fictional characters, and thereby to account for the truth (or falsity) of statements about fictional characters.

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Section: Standard Accountsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 SeeBraun (1993) for an argument in favor of the latter (which he there calls the 'unfilled proposition' view) over the former. For further development of the gappy proposition view, see alsoAdams et al (1997),Braun (2005) and the articles cited in the next note.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The great beetle debate: a study in imagining with names

Friend

2009

Philos Stud

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“…R. Carnap (1947), J. Searle (1958), K. Donnellan (1966Donnellan ( , 1970, S. Kripke (1980), P. van Inwagen (1983, 1997, D. Braun (1993Braun ( , 2005, F. Adams (1997), M. Reimer (2007, and others made a major contribution to the issue. The aim of the conducted research implies the analysis of the usage of references to the objective reality in literary discourse, the determination of the functions performed by proper names in literary works, and the study of their semantic, pragmatic, and cognitive potential by means of the linguistic-cultural interpretation of texts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proper Names: Linguistic Conceptualization of Cultural Continuum

Gach¹

2016

UCFL

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The article examines the cognitive and pragmatic potential of proper names within literary discourse. Since the question of the semantics of proper names is rather acute within the modern linguistic studies, the research presupposes the analysis of the proper names' functioning on a text level, taking into account their cognitive and cultural meaning. The research is carried out within the analysis of the American literary works of XVIIth-XXth centuries. The method of cognitive discourse analysis helps to interpret the knowledge behind the meaning of The conducted research implies that proper names can become the bearers of culturally meaningful information, in which case the cognitive approach to their analysis may be applicable. Therefore, proper names are regarded as to be located at two different thresholds: first, between the world of our thoughts, beliefs, and desires and the world of our actions, institutions, and practice; and second, between the linguistic and non-linguistic, between the world of meanings and truth-values and the world of representations and imaginings.Thus, proper names turn out to be important for several reasons. On the one hand, a proper understanding of the ordinary use of proper names illuminates several cognitive phenomena such as language acquisition and use, as well as the nature of thought and belief (intentionality). On the other hand, there is no understanding of proper names without a proper understanding of reference. Thus, proper names also teach us about how our thoughts and assertions relate to the world, thereby teaching us the latter by telling us what the former are about. We have thoughts about how the world is, but we also like to think about how it should be. So, presumably, a proper understanding of reference and intentionality should help to understand not only our claims to knowledge but also our value judgments (Garcia-Ramirez, 2010, p.

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“…43 Braun (1995Braun ( , 2005 has proposed that the "semantic content" of a simple subject-predicate sentence containing a bearerless proper name, such as 'Vulcan is a planet', is an "unfilled proposition" (1995) or "gappy proposition" (2005), which is supposed to be a 'propositional structure that contains an unfilled position (a "gap") ' (2005, p. 599). Braun goes on to argue that such gappy propositions can have truth values and be asserted and believed.…”

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confidence: 99%