From Karenina to Make-Believe

The Prompt

Explain the Paradox of Fiction for a thoughtful newcomer, tracing its articulation by Colin Radford (1975) through Kendall Walton's make-believe theory (1990), Gendler's imaginative resistance, and recent neuroscientific findings on fictional vs. real emotional processing. Assess which approach comes closest to a resolution and why the paradox persists.

Completion Criteria

A clear, historically grounded explanation of the paradox covering Radford, Walton, and Gendler, with accurate dates and publications, an assessment of which approach is most promising, and an honest account of why the problem remains open.

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