Anna Brinkerhoff

Moral deference strikes many as problematic. Some explain this problem by pointing to understanding: accepting a moral proposition on the basis of testimony is problematic because it’s in tension with understanding that proposition, and understanding moral propositions is especially important. In this paper, I argue that there is a set of non-moral propositions that it is also especially important to understand, for many of the same reasons that defenders of The Understanding Explanation give to defend the claim that understanding moral propositions is especially important. These propositions are featured in cases at the center of the debate about moral encroachment.

In this paper, I examine the Paradox of Fiction: (1) in order for us to have genuine and rational emotional responses to a character or situation, we must believe that the character or situation is not purely fictional, (2) we believe that fictional characters and situations are purely fictional, and (3) we have genuine and rational emotional responses to fictional characters and situations. After defending (1) and (2) against formidable objections and considering the plausibility of ~(3) in isolation of (1) and (2), I conclude that we should resolve the Paradox of Fiction by rejecting (3).