ENT.5 Fiction is Philosophy

Growing up in English class, we were taught that at a rudimentary level, fiction was a genre that was described as “fake” and non-fiction could be remembered as a genre that is “not-fake”. To a superficial and to a very literal degree, this is in a way correct, as the genre of literature known as fiction contains stories that are not literally or factually accurate or that have not historically occurred previously. Contrarily, the genre of non-fiction usually contains factual events or things that are present and true factually about the world around us. Naturally, I have been drawn to the realm of non-fiction writing in part because I initially found it more applicable or helpful when it came to improving and learning about different aspects of life. However, I have recently been drawn to the world of fiction writing for similar reasons, as I heard a great example of what fiction writing really is, and began to understand it beyond this superficial and literal definition. Great fiction writing may not be a literal recollection of real-world events or facts, but instead a representation of very real underlying truths about our world and lives drawn out in a story. Some may argue that these truths expressed in great fiction novels represent aspects of humanity or life itself that are truer than can be explained in psychological or self-help non-fiction writing. This began to raise questions such as: What does it look like to find truth in a fiction story? Can fiction be a way of expressing things more true than their literal interpretations?

This thought experiment started with questioning why some fiction stories are incredibly popular among people. Why is it that individuals become so enthralled with detailed descriptions of worlds and characters that do not even exist? What is it about these stories that entices people, compelling them to the stories that are not in fact real? Interestingly, in these questions, we must ask yet another set of questions that go continually deeper into the meaning of our thoughts. What does it mean for something to be ‘real’ or ‘true’ or even for something to ‘exist’? Might it be that existence is beyond the physical? Can something be real without requiring a physical existence? Of course, we use this commonly all of the time. The connection that two individuals in a relationship feel is something that both of them would describe as real, yet there is, to our knowledge, although maybe through some form of quantum entanglement yet unknown to us, no physical thing connecting them. This idea of attraction is an example where we as individuals have a collective agreement of its existence, yet its existence is entirely non-physical. Consciousness is another one of these difficult subjects, yet we all agree fundamentally, for the most part, that we as individuals have a level of awareness that we describe as consciousness that is very real to all of us. However, it is very difficult to try to pinpoint what consciousness is physically, including where within the brain it is formed or by what mechanisms it comes to be. These are simply two real, common, and implicit examples of our belief in the reality of things in this world beyond their physical contents. 

One of the major non-physical realities displayed prolifically within fiction writing is the intense web of social behavior we have established as a species. There are plenty of non-fiction books on sociology and psychology that try to establish the physiological basis for these tendencies and the explanations for our behaviors. I would argue, however, that one of the dominating drivers of popularity in great fiction writing is the deep depiction it gives of these innate and often subconscious social interactions. Great fiction writing elicits emotions as a natural reaction to the way that we see life through the characters' lenses. This is only possible if it is built on the complex innate understanding of our sociology as a species. Additionally, through fiction, an author is able to explore these sociological phenomena at a much deeper and personal level. Inviting the reader to look inside and through the character's lens of the world, giving new insight into their actions. This also allows the author to explore topics and complex moral dilemmas to a greater and more complex degree. Is it plausible then that through fictional stories, topics can be explored that are arguably more true than anything depicted in literal non-fiction? Are there concepts that are more true within this context that can not be equated in a literal form?

Establishing that there is a subconscious, intricate web of social behaviors that we abide by, largely unknown to our conscious selves on a day-to-day basis, seems to support this idea. The idea that fiction can pull on and play with sociological phenomena, which are deeply connected with our emotions, to relay a deep and underlying truth about life. These truths, which are entangled in our complex webs of emotion and human interactions, display fundamental realities of human nature more prolifically than those of some non-fiction writings on similar topics. The fact is that we do not merely hold these daily truths of life logically and consciously within our minds as we live. Instead, they are rooted deep within us, and it is the job of the fiction author to utilize the immense complexity of the human experience to express them, both bringing them to a conscious and emotional realization. This multifaceted approach to fiction allows the author to truly engage the reader in a story with underlying premises of truth so deep and implicit in the writing as to manipulate the mind of the reader themselves through the lens of the characters. This is in part the potential danger of books and why there is potential for both great harm and great reward in them.

To see the world through another's eyes is one of the most powerful things for your own perception of the world. Therefore, the author has immense power in influencing the reader's beliefs through the characters of their book. It is through the author's ability to manipulate the truths of human nature and experience through the life of their characters that they can manipulate the reader's emotions. This is done prolifically by great authors and is part of the reason why fictional books are so enticing. The reader enters into another world, into the life of another character, not their own, and soon they begin to see this fictional world through the lens of the character's life. Great authors, therefore, use this to demonstrate and force the reader to wrestle with deep moral dilemmas or truths through the lives of the characters. In a way, through the characters' lives, the reader is forced to wrestle with great moral truths, subconsciously or without realizing it. The author elicits this through their understanding of the intense entanglement of emotions and the sociological structure of human life. This allows the reader to become acquainted with, seemingly less daunting, deep moral dilemmas and truths that they themselves have to wrestle with in life. Eventually, this will cause the reader to form decisions and beliefs that will become relevant in their lives as well. 

All of this is strikingly similar to philosophy, whose goal is often to wrestle with very similar, if not the same, questions and dilemmas. Philosophy, however, to the average person seems inaccessible due to complex ideologies and terms discussed in a proper formal manner. Some indeed find great pleasure in dissecting the relationship between philosophy and fiction, particularly in the realm of classic literature; however, I have to believe that this is not the case for the majority of readers of fiction literature. It is the case, however, that knowingly or unknowingly, fans of fiction are secretly fans of philosophy. In fact, it is their interest in philosophy, sociology, and psychology that drives their interest in fiction literature and is the very thing that entices them into the complexity of such fictional worlds. The exploration of the complexity of the truths of life, as well as the intense social and moral dilemmas faced in such fiction books, is that of the same discussion by philosophers and sociologists across the globe. In fact, they share the same goal: To understand and dissect the realities of life and the human experience. The fiction author has the incredibly difficult job of portraying these truths and dilemmas at such a level through the eyes of the complex human life and human interaction, instead of overtly stating these truths as done in classic philosophical debate. In fact, the fiction author goes one step further in this and makes the reader feel and experience these things emotionally as they live through the eyes of the character they are reading. 

Overall, great fiction entices readers through the exploration of deep moral and philosophical dilemmas and truths overtly through the manipulation of the complexity of human experience and the structure of social interaction. This, in fact, can elicit truths so real yet so unconscious to ourselves that they can only be enlightened through careful experimental subconscious manipulation in a world and character foreign to ourselves. This is truly the art of great fiction!