The CEU Department of Philosophy cordially invites you to a talk (as part of its Departmental Colloquium series) by Stacie Friend (Birkbeck, University of London) on Reality in Fiction Tuesday, 29 March 2016, 5.30 PM, Zrinyi 14, Room 412 ABSTRACT I argue that judgements of what is ‘true in a fiction’ presuppose the Reality Assumption: the assumption that everything that is (really) true is also fictionally the case, unless excluded by features of the work. By contrast with the more familiar Reality Principle, the Reality Assumption is not a rule or ‘principle of generation’ for inferring implied content from what is explicit in a text. Instead it provides an array of real-world truths that can be used in making such inferences. Drawing on empirical evidence, I claim that reliance on the Reality Assumption is essential to our ability to understand stories. However, the Reality Assumption has several unintuitive consequences, not least that what is fictionally the case includes countless facts that neither authors nor readers could or should ever consider. I argue that such consequences provide no reason to reject the Reality Assumption. Professor Friend has provided us with a now published article that is presently posted on e-Learning. All philosophy department faculty and students should have access to e-Learning. The document is also attached to this message for your convenience. Krisztina Biber Department of Philosophy Coordinator ------------------------------------------ Central European University Nador u. 9. | 1051 Budapest, Hungary Office: + 36.1.327.3806 | biberk(a)ceu.hu | www.ceu.hu