•  98
    In the philosophy of art, one of the most important debates concerns the so-called ‘cognitive value’ of literature. The main question is phrased in various ways. Can literary narratives provide knowledge? Can readers learn from works of literature? Most of the discussants agree on an affirmative answer, but it is contested what the relevant notions of truth and knowledge are and whether this knowledge and learning influence aesthetic or literary value. The issue takes on a wider, not only philos…Read more
  •  44
    The interconnections between Nietzsche and phenomenology constitute an area that is surprisingly underexplored. Besides Nietzsche’s well-known influence on Heidegger, and Heidegger’s Nietzsche sitting on the throne of metaphysics, there is very little written about the topic. This is a strange lacuna, one likely explanation for which is the difficulty of such comparative work. For, as the editors of Nietzsche and Phenomenology, Élodie Boublil and Christine Daigle, state in their introduction, “t…Read more
  •  43
    Fiction cannot be true
    Philosophical Studies 174 (9): 2167-2186. 2017.
    According to the dominant theory of intentionalism, fiction and non-fiction are in a “mix-and-match” relationship with truth and falsity: both fiction and nonfiction can be either true or false. Intentionalists hold that fiction is a property of a narrative that is intended to elicit not belief but imagination or make-belief in virtue of the audience’s recognizing that such is the intention of the fiction-maker. They claim that in unlikely circumstances these fictions can turn out to be accident…Read more
  •  21
    The Opacity of Narrative
    British Journal of Aesthetics 55 (3): 399-401. 2015.
  •  18
    The Cognitive Value of Philosophical Fiction by Jukka Mikkonen
    Philosophy and Literature 40 (1): 317-319. 2016.
    Many of us read works of fiction passionately not only because of their entertainment value or for their aesthetic inventiveness but also because we feel that they enrich our understanding of ourselves and the world. This is where there seems to be an important resemblance to philosophy. A number of fictional works can be legitimately called “philosophical” because they are thought provoking about issues that works of philosophy explicitly deal with. However, as the hot debate concerning truth t…Read more
  •  7
    Book Review - Fiction and Narrative by Derek Matravers (review)
    American Society for Aesthetics Graduate E-Journal 7 (1). 2015.
  •  4
    Review (review)
    Journal of Nietzsche Studies 45 (3): 356-358. 2014.
  •  2
    BioShock Infinite is a piece of fiction that lets one peer into a world where this linearity seems overridden by a multiverse where all the possibilities exist. Stories are important for video games. Its story is one of the reasons BioShock Infinite resonates with audiences all around the world. The field of philosophy that deals with art is called aesthetics. If one think that it's even worth asking the question of whether BioShock Infinite is art or not, then one might want to consider this: W…Read more
  • Philosophical Issues in the Study of Narrative
    Dissertation, Central European University. 2016.