Julianne Chung
jnchung@yorku.ca

Sometimes, seemingly true sentences appear to commit us to claims that we are not inclined to endorse. “Santa Claus lives at the North Pole”, for instance, could arguably only be true if Santa Claus exists. But, of course, he doesn’t. Yet, this sentence still strikes us as true! Likewise, some philosophers have argued that sentences as diverse as “2+2=4”, “There is a possible world in which pigs fly”, “Some

rocks are red”, and “Charity work is a morally good thing to do” (just to name a few) also appear to commit us to claims that we are not inclined to endorse, including the claim that there are numbers, that there are possible worlds, that there are properties (generally speaking), and that there are moral properties (more specifically speaking). After all, things like numbers, possible worlds, and properties – especially moral ones – would be very weird things indeed, without any of the usual features of objects (they seem to even lack locations)! Yet, these sentences also still strike us as true! How might this be explained?

In this course, we will take a close look at one popular way of resolving these kinds of tensions known as fictionalism, which can be roughly characterized as the view that our uses of certain sentences are better understood as being non-literal (in some important sense) than literal. In doing so, we will discuss questions like:

• Are mathematics and morality really just made up? What about scientific theories? Truth? Knowledge? God? Is it even possible that people are all fictional characters?
• How do words commit us to things, and what do they commit us to?
• Is there a difference between accepting a claim and believing it?
• What is the distinction between the meaning of a linguistic expression and what a speaker intends use a linguistic expression to communicate, and how are the two related?
• Could we be speaking non-literally a lot of the time and not know it?
• When did fictionalist views first appear, and what are some other ways of solving the problems that fictionalists concern themselves with? How do they differ from fictionalism, and what are some of the reasons to endorse them instead?

These, and especially any others that you may have, will be our focus in this course.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

Classes will be online, delivered synchronously over Zoom. Students will be occasionally expected to appear on video for class participation, and so, in addition to a stable, higher-speed Internet connection, students will need a computer with a webcam and a microphone, and/or a smart device with these features. Zoom discussions will not be recorded.

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to Moodle

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.]

Times and locations: Classes will be delivered synchronously over Zoom at the scheduled meeting time of M 2:30-5:30.

Please note that this is a course that depends on remote teaching and learning. There will be no in-person interactions or activities on campus.

Virtual office hours:

Office hours will be by appointment only. Students should email the instructor at jnchung@yorku.ca to make an appointment. A Zoom meeting will then be scheduled

Frederick Kroon, Jonathan McKeown-Green, Stuart Brock, A Critical Introduction to Fictionalism (Bloomsbury: 2018) ISBN-13: 9781472506962

Reflections: 20%

Essay drafts and presentation: 15%

Essay: 55%

Participation: 10%

There will be 4 components to course assessment: i) seven reflections; ii) one essay draft and presentation; iii) one essay; and; iv) participation.

Reflections: These assignments are designed to help students get started with respect to thinking and writing about some of the ideas expressed in our readings, as well as connections between them and other topics and activities that they are interested in. Unlike other course requirements, these assignments will be graded as complete or incomplete and questions will be distributed weekly. They need not be very long but must be at least 250 words or more per option. Each student will be expected to complete seven options in total.

Term Paper Proposal and Presentation: Each seminar participant will be expected to write a short 1500-2000 word paper proposal and present it to the class at some point during the last few meetings of the semester, outlining a) the thesis that one is considering defending and b) one’s initial motivation for pursuing it. Presentations should be about 10-15 minutes long, and will be followed by a very brief 5-10 minute discussion period. This assignment is primarily intended to get you thinking and writing about potential term paper topics well in advance of the due date, and to give you an opportunity to hone your public speaking and presentation skills and discuss your ideas with others. Because of this, it will be acceptable to take your papers in different directions than you may have anticipated prior to giving your presentation, so please be advised that you should not feel any special pressure to remain

particularly committed to anything that you say at this point! The goal is simply to encourage you to start developing some views of your own.

Term Paper: This paper should be approximately 3000-4000 words in length, and will ideally be based (if to some degree loosely) on the aforementioned paper proposal. Although this is strongly discouraged, should you feel inclined to write on a substantially different topic than that suggested by your paper proposal, please speak to me at least two weeks in advance of the paper due date in order to ensure that it is a suitable one.

Participation: In this course, we will be focusing on reading, writing, and discussing philosophy. Thus, regular attendance and participation in class meetings is required. It should be emphasized that attendance is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for doing well as regards the participation portion of the course: just as important as attending class are preparing for and participating in class. Students must do an excellent job of all three of these things in order to earn an excellent grade for this course component.

This course has four principal goals: i) To introduce students to an array of views about the philosophical questions noted above, and to aid them in developing a broad as well as deep understanding of them; ii) To assist students in cultivating skill in both verbal and written philosophical discussion and argumentation, as well as in interpreting and evaluating philosophical texts and other forms of communication; iii) To enable students to think critically about the philosophical questions investigated and to draw connections between what they have learned in this class and what they are studying in others, in addition to other questions that they might wonder about, and; iv) To promote an appreciation of diverse philosophical approaches, as well as the values of humanistic inquiry, especially intellectual curiosity and humility.

Course policies

All written work must be submitted by the due dates specified (unless arranged otherwise in advance).

Please note in addition that any recordings: i) should be used for educational purposes only and as a means for enhancing accessibility; ii) cannot be copied or distributed outside the class (these acts can violate not only copyright laws but also FIPPA); and iii) all recordings will be destroyed after the end of classes.