Gregory Currie

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Gregory Currie is a leading philosopher of mind and language whose work bridges the philosophy of fiction, aesthetics, and cognitive science. He is best known for his foundational contributions to the ontology of fictional objects and the nature of narrative engagement, particularly through his influential books *The Nature of Fiction* and *Arts and Minds*. Currie’s research explores how we understand and emotionally respond to fictional characters and events, arguing that our engagement with fiction involves a distinctive form of “make-believe” that shapes both cognition and moral reasoning. His work on the paradox of fiction—how we can feel genuine emotions for characters we know are not real—has sparked decades of debate and remains a cornerstone of contemporary aesthetics. With over 5,000 citations across his career, Currie’s impact extends into philosophy of psychology, where he examines the role of imagination in thought experiments and counterfactual reasoning. His early paper “Knowledge of Meaning” (1983) critically assessed Davidsonian truth-conditional semantics, showcasing his analytical rigor. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Currie continues to shape how we think about the intersection of art, mind, and meaning.