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7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 7. Fictionalism

[much of ontology is actually convenient fictions we create]

12 ideas
Classes are logical fictions, made from defining characteristics [Russell]
Without modality, Armstrong falls back on fictionalism to support counterfactual laws [Bird on Armstrong]
Abstractions may well be verbal fictions, in which we ignore some features of an object [Lewis]
Talk of mirror images is 'encoded fictions' about real facts [Hodes]
We quantify over events, worlds, etc. in order to make logical possibilities clearer [Yablo]
Fictionalism allows that simulated beliefs may be tracking real facts [Yablo]
For me, fictions are internally true, without a significant internal or external truth-value [Yablo]
Make-believe can help us to reason about facts and scientific procedures [Yablo]
'The clouds are angry' can only mean '...if one were attributing emotions to clouds' [Yablo]
Fictionalism eschews the abstract, but it still needs the possible (without model theory) [Shapiro]
Structuralism blurs the distinction between mathematical and ordinary objects [Shapiro]
If fictional objects really don't exist, then they aren't abstract objects [Azzouni]