Walton maintains that observers do not actually fear fictional entities; rather, it is fictionally true that we fear these entities. Necessary to his theory, by his own admission, is that the relevant principle of make-believe is accepted by someone. Walton contends that it is accepted by the observer.
1) Is accepting this principle a deliberate act? How might Walton respond to someone who was passing through a room with a movie playing and experienced fear at the content, essentially being affected by accident? Did the observer in this hypothetical accept this principle if he or she was not intending to watch a movie, to engage in a fictional world?
2) Is Walton's "Pretend Theory" pejorative to artists? If artists cannot elicit fear or any emotion in the observer (as also false is our hatred of Iago, envy of Superman...etc...) does this depreciate the role of art in general?
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