Editing Empty name (section)

== Fictional entities ==
Some philosophers employ the related concepts of "fictional entities" (such as [[Sherlock Holmes]]) who are deliberate inventions, and of "mythical entities" (such as [[Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan]]) that result from accidental mistakes.<ref>Braun, David. "Empty Names, Fictional Names, Mythical Names." ''Noûs'' '''39'''(4) (2005): 596–631.</ref> Such entities appear to be employed in many different contexts:<ref>Thomasson, Amie. "Fictional Entities." In: [[Jaegwon Kim]], [[Ernest Sosa]] and Gary Rosenkrantz (eds.), ''A Companion to Metaphysics'' (2009), Blackwell: 10–18.</ref>
* Discourse within fiction: The story itself saying that "[Holmes was] the most perfect reasoning and observing machine"
* Intra-fictional discourse by readers: "Holmes solved his first mystery while in college"
* Inter-fictional discourse by readers: "Holmes is even smarter than Batman"
* Nonexistence claims: "Sherlock Holmes does not exist"
* Discourse about the entity ''as'' a fictional entity: "Holmes is a fictional character"