The paradox of fiction refers to a philosophical problem concerning how people can experience genuine emotional responses to fictional characters, events, or objects, despite knowing that they are not real. The paradox arises from the apparent contradiction among three commonly held intuitions: (1) people have emotional responses to fictional entities; (2) emotions directed at something typically require belief in the existence of that thing; and (3) people do not believe that fictional entities exist.
Philosophers have offered various solutions to this paradox. One prominent approach, proposed by Kendall Walton, argues that emotional responses to fiction are not genuine emotions but rather "quasi-emotions"—mental states that resemble emotions but do not require belief in the reality of their object. Others, such as Peter Lamarque and Susan Feagin, contend that real emotions can be directed toward fictional entities because imagination can generate affective responses without requiring ontological belief.
The paradox of fiction is a topic of ongoing discussion in aesthetics, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science. It raises broader questions about the nature of emotion, the role of imagination, and the psychological engagement with art and narrative.
The term is recognized in academic philosophical literature and has been the subject of peer-reviewed analysis and debate.