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An Eliminativist Theory of Suspense
- Philosophy and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 35, Number 1, April 2011
- pp. 121-133
- 10.1353/phl.2011.0000
- Article
- Additional Information
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Suspense realism claims suspense is itself a genuine, distinct emotion. While current theories of suspense are suspense realist theories, I argue for a suspense eliminativist theory according to which suspense is not itself a genuine, distinct emotion but a subspecies of an emotion, or the class comprising all and only those subspecies, chiefly demarcated by the necessity of uncertainty and primarily the province of (primarily fictional) narrative encounters. There are several prima facie compelling reasons to think suspense eliminativism is capable of grounding a theory equally if not better able to resolve the principal concerns suspense theory must address.