Novel assertions: A reply to Mahon

Dixon, Daisy 2022. Novel assertions: A reply to Mahon. British Journal of Aesthetics 62 (1) , pp. 115-124. 10.1093/aesthj/ayab017

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Abstract

In a recent paper, James Edwin Mahon (2019) argues that literary artworks—novels in particular—never lie because they do not assert. In this discussion note, I reject Mahon’s conclusion that novels never lie. I argue that a central premiss in his argument—that novels do not contain assertions—is false. Mahon’s account underdetermines the content of literary works; novels have rich layers of content and can contain what I call ‘profound’ assertions, and ‘background’ assertions. I submit that Mahon therefore fails to establish that novels never lie.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0007-0904
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 November 2023
Last Modified:	20 Nov 2023 12:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163862

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