Fear and Fiction

 

Over the years, there have been significant debates about why individuals get strong
feelings or emotions about different situations, even when they know they are not real. Emotions
define biological and psychological states connected with the nervous system, mainly generated
by neurophysiological changes associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and
certain pleasure or displeasure. Emotions include happiness, disgust, sadness, fear, anger, and
surprise caused by different events, people, or activities (Oatley, 2010). This report focuses on
the emotion of fear, which is a natural, primitive, and powerful human feeling experienced by
different individuals. It is a universal biochemical response to adrenalin and increased heartbeat
and high individual emotional response. Nevertheless, states of fear have representational content
where some individuals fear that someone might get hurt. Thus, philosophers for fear view fear
as a propositional attitude state. The main trigger for fear is feeling threatened or in danger
(Lamb, 2018). Other triggers include darkness, high heights, flying, rejection, social interaction,
and animals such as snakes or spiders, and imagining death or dying. Either real or imagined
scenarios can cause fear. Here, fiction or imagined events cause fear. Fiction can be in movies or
novels, and some of the scenes displayed could cause tremendous fear in both children and
adults. This case analyses how fiction causes fear, as illustrated by Walton (1978) and by
Schroeder and Matheson (2006) in the response paper.
This paper will focus on and discuss the ‘puzzle of fictional emotions.” The puzzle of
fictional fear illustrates that individuals often fear fiction, even when they clearly understand that
whatever they are reading or watching is not real and may not even exist in the real world.
Individuals experience fear from science fiction, fantasy, utopian, horror, dystopian, alternate

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history, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic fiction. Writers utilize suspense to evoke fear in
movies, games, and novels. Fear is a feeling or emotion that both the character and the reader or
viewer can feel together (Neill, 1993). The character in the fiction may not necessarily be feeling
fear. However, the character can be illustrated as experiencing fear. For instance, the protagonist
in a horror movie can be shown as fearing the monster and seeing the depicted fear makes a
person fear for the character or themselves. One of the characters read in novels and illustrated in
movies that invoke fear in many individuals is Dracula. People well know that Dracula is not
real, but when they watch a movie about Dracula or vampires, they feel extreme fear levels.
When an individual believes that Dracula may exist or feel threatened by his presence, they feel
fear in response to that scene.
Fearing Fictions by Kendall L. Walton
In his article, Fearing Fictions, Walton (1978) illustrates a scenario where a young boy
named Charles is watching a film about a horrifying green slime. He clings to his seat as he sees
the slime oozing relentlessly, destroying everything on its way. As the slime moves towards the
viewers, Charles emits a shriek, clutching more onto his chair. Afterward, still horrified, he says
that he was terrified and afraid of the slime. But was he really terrified by the slime? This
question is a significant part of the big phenomena of how distant or disconnected fictional
worlds are from reality. According to Walton (1978), there is a barrier against physical
interactions between the real and fictional world. In Charles's case, there is no way for Charles to
get a sample of the slime for analysis to determine if it is dangerous. However, as the case
illustrates, it shows there is a psychological barrier in fiction. In other words, as Walton (1978)
suggests, real people frequently experience psychological attitudes towards fictional entities and

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scenes despite the impossibility of interacting physically. In this case, Charles, as the spectator,
claims that he fears the slime.
Individuals do indeed get emotionally involved in fictional stories and movies. Physical
interactions are only possible with actual or existing objects or people. This is why Charles could
not catch the slime and why generally real individuals cannot physically interact with fictional
characters. However, though the slime does not exist in the real world, this does not prevent or
stop Charles from fearing it. This is where Walton places his first argument where he believes
that Charles does not experience real fear. The reason being, Charles does believe that the slime
exists in the real world and thus, cannot harm him. There is no physical connection or interaction
between the depicted scenes and Charles that could result in the slime harming Charles.
However, when Charles is asked, he says that he is experiencing fear. His heartbeat increases,
and he starts shaking (Walton, 1978). Charles’s reaction is relatable to a scenario where an
individual may fear a burglar or a ghost even if there is none because they believe that there is or
at least could be. In this case, the person feels fear because they think they are in danger, and
there is a high chance of being harmed by the burglar. With this in mind, it is conceivable that
Charles believes that he is threatened or in danger from the green slime. If he takes the movie as
a live documentary, he is naturally afraid of the slime.
Walton also presents a second argument where he argues and thinks that Charles may not
be experiencing real fear, but rather make-believe fear. Just like he make-believes that the slime
is coming towards him, he plays at believing that he is afraid and fears the slime. More
specifically, Charle’s state, to an extent, is different from that of individual feeling fear. Charles
knows that the slime is fictional, and that is a vital reason to argue that what he felt cannot be

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identified as fear. According to Walton (1978), Charles does not believe that he is threatened or
in danger, which is a crucial factor that drives fear. This means that he is not afraid and make-
belivedly feel fear. Charles portrays some behaviors that may show that he fears the slime, such
as shuddering and declaring that he was terrified. However, this only shows the intensity of
Charles’ experiences when watching the movie (Walton, 1978). Though Charles believed that he
felt fear, his behaviors are not sufficient to conclude that he was afraid of the slime.
Fundamentally, Charles’ responses to the sight of the slime are partly caused by a form of belief,
not one that makes him believe he is in danger, but one that forced him to respond the way he
did.
Although the viewer, Charles, is not afraid of the slime and experiences make-believe
fear, the movie might make him generate real fear of other things portrayed in the movie other
than the slime. The film might make him question whether there might be slimes in real life or
other horrific events similar to those illustrated in the movie, even though he knows that the film
itself and the slime are not real. He might even experience nightmares afterward related to the
movie. Walton also shows how other stories and games of make-believe causes fear in both
children and adults. In the movie, when the slime raises its head and moves towards the camera,
it is make-believe that Charles is threatened. At this moment, he gasps and tightly holds the
chair, which means that he is make-believedly afraid (Walton, 1978). Make-believe fear is
different from real fear as it makes individuals believe or imagine that they are in real danger
while they know they are not. According to Walton’s report, Charles imagines that he is afraid of
the slime while knowing that he is not. He describes his experience as one of fear. Nonetheless,

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his tendency to imagine that he is afraid of the slime based on his mental state makes him believe
that he is afraid.
The reaction of Charles towards the movie, mostly the slime, clarifies individuals'
psychological attitudes towards fictional concepts and demonstrations. In his article, Walton
(1978) depicts the close connection between the fictional worlds and the real world. It suggests
that the viewer creates make-believe truths since he is not just an observer of the fictional world.
This asserts that what individuals believe invoke certain emotions, including fear. The article,
mainly through Charles’ reactions and expressions towards the green slime in the movie, gives
readers clear insights into how fictional worlds affect individuals in the real world even when
they know that it is not real. Essentially, Walton depicts what happens when individuals get
emotionally or psychologically involved in novel or make-believe stories. He solves the puzzle
of fictional fear, where he argues that fictional fear is not real fear but make-believe fear.
According to Walton (1978), individuals do not fear Dracula. Instead, they just make-believe that
they fear the fictional character.
Imagination and Emotion by Timothy Schroeder and Carl Matheson
Schroeder and Matheson's (2006) article starts by starting by stating that “That fiction
produces strong feelings in most of us is an undeniable truth.” For instance, the death of Little
Nell, the heroine of Charles’ Dicken’s The Old Curiosity Shop, brought grief to its readers. This
reaction shows how individuals naturally respond to different scenarios in fiction. However, it
also raises the question of why individuals get such strong feelings about different situations
even when they know they are not real. According to Schroeder and Matheson (2006), various
philosophers have interpreted the phenomenon of individuals’ reactions to fiction in three ways.

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First is the classificatory question, which asks how people’s feelings towards fiction can be
correctly classified as emotions. This concept asks whether individuals should literally grieve for
fictional characters such as Little Neil or fear Dracula. This question is developed for individuals
who view emotions based on the feelings that require beliefs alongside subjective feelings. In
this case, for an individual to experience specific emotions such as fear, they have to believe in
danger.
Philosophers can also solve individuals’ feelings towards fiction by answering the Flaw
Question. This question asks whether an individual’s response to fiction solely relies on a
particular mistake. It aims to find out if an individual must hold a fake or false belief or be
deluded to be affected by fiction. The Flaw Question asserts that individuals’ reactions to fiction
are usually irrational, where other people take their responses to be free of flaws. Finally,
Explanatory Question seeks to answer and explain why individuals have such strong reactions
toward fiction. According to Schroeder and Matheson (2006), Walton addresses the
Explanatory Question in his arguments and beliefs in Fearing Fictions. More specifically,
Schroeder and Matheson (2006) show how and why individuals respond as they do like in
Walton’s report Fearing Fictions and explores the concept of Explanatory Question as applied in
the article. The response states that Walton beliefs that the reader does not fear Dracula or feel
fear of Mina’s behalf. Instead, she makes believes that she fears Dracula and for Mina.
According to the article, Walton argues that people’s cognitive attitude toward fiction causes an
individual’s responses towards a specific fictional character. In this case, it is the thought of
Little Nell’s dying that drives individuals into sadness and grief, while the idea of Dracula
drinking people’s blood that instills fear and horror in the viewers and readers. Thoughts are not

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the same as beliefs. Thus, the thought of Little Neill’s death does not really drive individuals to
believe that a person is dying out there. Nevertheless, the thought is real and has the causal force
to cause strong reactions in different viewers or readers.
Schroeder and Matheson (2006) disagree with Walton’s arguments. They believe that
although that imagination is driven by individuals’ distinct cognitive attitudes (DCA), it does,
however, give rise to or lead to real emotions. Schroeder and Matheson (2006) further claim that
imagination, whether in children or adults, produces feelings just as fiction does. Imagining
certain events could lead to certain emotions or feelings, including fear, happiness or anger,
whether real or make-believed. The article claims that DCA mediates between the feelings of an
individual and their imagination. It also explains the neuroscientific approach towards the
Explanatory Question as applied by Walton in Fearing Fiction. The neuroscientific approach
begins with the senses and then the production of sensory and quasi-sensory representations,
stimulating the sense organs. In this case, when the sense organs are stimulated, they produce
neural signals which establish patterns of activities in the brain. These activities are segregated
by sense modality and create unimodal sensory representations that represent things such as
boundaries, dark or light, surfaces, edges, and distance. How these things are displayed and
illustrated greatly influences how individuals respond to fiction. More specifically, once the
unimodal senses are generated, they send impulses to emotional centres such as the orbitofrontal
cortex and amygdala. Once these emotional trigger centres are activated, they produce various
feelings and physical responses associated with different emotions. This differs from Walton’s
argument, where he does not think that fiction causes real fear while Schroeder and Matheson
beliefs it does.

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Fundamentally, Schroeder and Matheson’s (2006) response to the Explanatory Question
suggests that when individuals engage their imaginations via the experiences of fiction, that
engagement causes simple sensory representations, which in turn causes more complex
representations. They also have their characteristic effects, which, as mentioned above, activate
the parts of the brain that produces the feelings and physical responses characterized as emotions.
The article emphasizes that belief-like DCA created by a person’s imaginations and desires also
profoundly help in the generation of feelings by the imagination or fiction. The report also notes
that real and made desires or both profoundly influences how different individuals feel or
respond to imaginary scenarios or fiction, which explains the spectators’ reactions, mostly fear,
towards the fictional movie depicted in Fearing Fictions.
Critical Assessment
Fear is experienced by different individuals globally. In essence, it has been a vital
response to physical and emotional danger that has been proven essential through evolution from
generation to generation. From my understanding and based on my experiences, fear is an
emotion or feeling instilled by a perceived threat or danger, which causes behavioral changes and
physiological changes such as fleeing or hiding. Sometimes I feel fear when I watch a horror
movie or when I read a horrifying novel or feel like someone is following me while walking on
the streets. Though fear in both humans and animals helps to promote survival skills, sometimes
excessive fear can cause trauma and anxiety. Thus, it may not be healthy to feel fear all the time.
I strongly disagree with Walton’s (1978) argument that individuals only experience
make-believe fear from fiction, fictional movies or novels. In other words, individuals do not
experience real fear if they watch scary movies or scenes. Walton (1978) depicts a film with a

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green slime that destroys everything it touches and Charles’ reactions towards the green slime.
Charles says that he was terrified by the slime, but according to Walton (1978), this was only
make-believe fear. Walton continued to argue that Charles was experiencing make-believe fear
since he knew that he was watching a film, and the slime was not real.
Nonetheless, I believe that Charles was experiencing real fear based on his reactions, such
as clutching on the chair and shaking while watching the slime move towards the viewer.
Walton (1978) argues that individuals do not experience real fear of fiction. However, I believe
that individuals can feel real fear if they believe that they are in danger of the thing or character
shown in the movie. From my experience, I feel real fear whenever I watch a horror movie, and
that is why I avoid them. Further, viewers or spectators can show signs of fear if they also
imagine that the horrifying character exists in the real world. Dracula is the most appropriate
example showing that individuals fear fiction whether they live in the real world or not.
On the other hand, Schroeder and Matheson's (2006) article shows how specific changes
in an individual cause fear when watching or listening to a fictional scenario. The report analyses
the Explanatory Question as implemented by Walton (1978) and other philosophers to show that
fiction causes fear. While I disagree with Walton’s arguments, I strongly agree with Schroeder
and Matheson’s (2006) idea that individuals engage with their imaginations through their
experiences and different events in fiction. That engagement causes simple sensory
representations. These sensory representations are crucial as they are the ones that in turn cause
other complex expressions, typically known as DCAs. The article shows how emotions such as
happiness or fear are formed. According to Schroeder and Matheson (2006), DCAs have their

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unique characteristic effects, which activate the parts of the brain that produces feelings and
physical responses characterized as emotions.
The article emphasizes that belief-like DCA created by a person’s imaginations, such as
in Charles’ case as described by Walton (1978), and desires also profoundly help in the
generation of feelings by the imagination or fiction. The article shows how real and made desires
profoundly influences how different individuals feel or respond to imaginary scenarios or fiction.
In my view, it explains why different viewers have varying reactions to fiction. Schroeder and
Matheson’s (2006) article clearly illustrates why individuals react as they do when they interact
with fiction, even when they know that the characters and events are not real and have little to no
chance of taking place in the real world. Conclusively, both the target paper by
Walton (1978) and Schroeder and Matheson’s (2006) article depict and support that fiction
profoundly causes fear in both children and adults. The severity of the fear experienced depends
on an individual’s attitude and beliefs towards fiction and their imaginations.

References

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Lamb, K. (2018, August 27). FEAR: Why humans crave stories that disturb them. Kristen Lamb.
https://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/08/fear-why-humans-crave-stories-thatdisturb-them/
Neill, A. (1993). Fiction and Emotions. American Philosophical Quarterly, 30(1), 1-13.
Oatley, K. (2010, October 13). Emotions of fiction. Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-
psychologyfiction/201010/emotions-fiction
Schroeder, T., & Matheson, C. (2006). Imagination and emotion. The architecture of the
imagination, 19-40.
Walton, K. L. (1978). Fearing fictions. The Journal of Philosophy, 75(1), 5-27.