The Identity of Fictional Characters. A Philosophical Survey

Is Homer’s Ulysses the same character as Dante’s Ulysses? How many characters are involved in Sauron’s orcs army? And what about fictional people featuring in inconsistent stories? These and similar conundrums regard the identity of the mysterious inhabitants of fictions: fictional characters (ficta, for short). This book tackles such issues from the standpoint of three major metaphysical perspectives – objectual realism (ficta as objects), non-objectual realism (ficta as properties), anti-realism – and in interplay with literary interpretive practices.