Fictional reference as simulation

According to a widespread view, the author of a fiction makes pretend assertions, which themselves rest on ancillary acts of pretend reference. Fictional discourse is thus asymmetrically dependent upon ‘serious’ (non-fictional) discourse: fictional reference and fictional assertion alike are parasitic on genuine reference and genuine assertion, which they mimic. Recently, however, several authors have criticized the pretence approach. According to the alternative, two-stage model they argue for, fiction and non-fiction are on a par (rather than one being asymmetrically dependent upon the other). This chapter shows how this debate connects with the current controversy about the force/content distinction. A sustained defence of the pretence approach is provided, and the approach is shown to extend to the parafictional uses of fictional names.