Array
(
    [fullTitle] => Against Theological Fictionalism
    [abstract] => According to theological fictionalism, God has the same status as a fictional character in a novel or a movie. Such a claim has been defended by Robin le Poidevin on the basis of Kendall Walton’s theory of make-believe. But it is not only a philosophical esoteric account of religious beliefs, it is now an exoteric view, sometimes accepted by “believers” themselves, and so could even be considered a postmodern heresy. But theological  fictionalism does not work: faith is real assent and not make-believe; belief is different from acceptance; belief and faith are dispositional, but make-believe seems to presuppose an account of beliefs as occurrent states; we cannot anymore imagine at will than we can believe at will.
    [authors] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [givenName] => Roger
                    [affiliation] => University of Lorraine
                )

        )

    [keywords] => Array
        (
        )

    [doi] => 10.24204/ejpr.v3i2.404
    [datePublished] => 2011-09-23
    [pdf] => https://www.philosophy-of-religion.eu/menuscript/index.php/ejpr/article/view/404/version/348/375
)
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Against Theological Fictionalism

Roger
University of Lorraine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v3i2.404

Abstract

According to theological fictionalism, God has the same status as a fictional character in a novel or a movie. Such a claim has been defended by Robin le Poidevin on the basis of Kendall Walton’s theory of make-believe. But it is not only a philosophical esoteric account of religious beliefs, it is now an exoteric view, sometimes accepted by “believers” themselves, and so could even be considered a postmodern heresy. But theological  fictionalism does not work: faith is real assent and not make-believe; belief is different from acceptance; belief and faith are dispositional, but make-believe seems to presuppose an account of beliefs as occurrent states; we cannot anymore imagine at will than we can believe at will.

Keywords:

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