Fiction
Fiction
Whenever a symbol, as part of an utterance, occurs in such a context that the truth of any utterance of the same form would normally guarantee the existence of an individual denoted by that symbol, whereas in the case considered no such implication holds, the symbol may be said to occur fictitiously in that context. Thus in the utterance “The average man is six feet tall” the phrase “the average man” occurs fictitiously. For “X is less thin six feet tall” normally implies that there is an individual denoted by “X”. But there is no individual denoted by “the average man”.
If “S” occurs fictitiously it is customary to say that S is a fictitious entity or a fiction. (The language is unfortunate as falsely suggesting that in such case there is a special kind of entity denoted by S and having the property of being fictitious.)
It is to be noted that a symbol “S” occurs fictitiously only if the complex token “C(S)”, containing “S”, does not fully display the logical form of the utterance. In such cases the fictitious character of the occurrence of S is revealed by translation of the utterance (e.g. by translating remarks about the average man in such a way as to remove any apparent reference to a specific person).
The definition is suggested by that of Jeremy Bentham. ReferenceC. K. Ogden, Bentham’s Theory of Fictions, 12. See also Incomplete Symbol, Construction. — M.B.
(Lat. fictio, from fingere, to devise, or form) A logical or imaginative construction framed by the mind to which nothing corresponds in reality. See Construction, Imaginative. — L.W.