The objects of thought: in defense of Crane's view against Brock's criticism

Abstract

In Crane (2013), Tim Crane proposes a novel solution to the problem of nonexistence or the problem of how we can truly think and talk about nonexistent objects. In Brock (2015), Stuart Brock focuses on Cranes view about fictional characters among nonexistent objects and argues that Cranes view is not satisfactory, claiming that it has no way to explain the relevant linguistic intuition but to appeal to the way its competing rival (i.e. fictionalism) does. In this paper, I defend Cranes view against Brocks criticism. By closely examining Cranes view in more detail, I argue that, contrary to Brocks claim, Cranes view does not rely on the fictionalist gambit and has an explanatory virtue fictionalism does not have.