Steven Carr

If Sherlock Holmes was based on Dr. Joseph Bell, does this mean that Sherlock Holmes existed?


If the Jesus of the Gospels is based on a person who existed, does this mean that Jesus existed?

What does it mean to say that A existed, if A is a fictional representation of B, who did exist?

Amaleq13

It seems to me more accurate to say the character is based on a real person but the character did not actually exist.

PhilosopherJay

Yes, fictional characters can be based on real people, but they can also be based on other fictional characters. This complicates things quite a bit.

For example, Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarty was based in part on a real thief named Adam Worth. Mary Roberts Rinehart's Bat character in her play "The Bat" was based party on the fictional Dr. Moriarty (and possibly partly on the Grand Vampire in Louis Feuillade "Les Vampires" movie serial which was based on Moriarity). Bob Kane's Batman was based partly on Rinehart's Bat character and partly on the fictional radio detective "The Shadow." Thus one can assert that the original comic book Batman character was a mixture of fictional characters, one of whom was based on a fictional character based on a fictional character based on an historical character.

The Jesus in the gospels may well be a fictional character based on one or more earlier fictional characters that are significantly changed from any original historical person or persons they may be based upon.

Warmly,

Philosopher Jay

spamandham

My answer would be, no, Sherlock Holmes did not exist. The Jesus of the Gospels also did not exist. Although, just as with Holmes, it's possible the character is loosely based on a historical person.

mountainman

It is merely a nuance in the traditional art of story-telling.



To the extent that Eusebius brought the story into the world in the fourth century, Eusebius in this instance is both the mid-wife and the story-teller. The art of story-telling is ancient. True stories abound. True stories about gods are demographically scattered. Imperial sponsorship had its impact.


Best wishes,


Pete

Doug Shaver

I'd say it depends on just what you mean by "based on." I don't think Holmes was based on Bell in any sense that would justify claiming that Holmes really existed.

Only if the real person, whoever it was, was an itinerant preacher crucified by Pilate and if certain of his followers were among the leaders of the Jerusalem church with whom Paul was acquainted.

Doug Shaver

That's a hard formula to come up with off the top of my head. Let's try this one just for a first approximation: If certain characteristics that define A within the fictional account also define B in real life, then A existed.

figuer

If certain characteristics/actions of fictional subject A are based on real life subject B, then: limited to these characteristics/actions, subject A might be said to have existed; Subject A might be understood as a paraphrasic allegory of B.

the_cave

Actually it's even more interesting:

If Sherlock's first name had been "Joseph", then would Joseph Holmes have existed? Would he have been more real than Sherlock?

What if Sherlock's name had been Joseph Bell? Then would Joseph Bell (the protagonist of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution) have existed? Would he have been more real than Sherlock?

How about James Frey, the subject of the memoir "A Million Little Pieces"? Does he (the subject as portrayed in the novel) exist?

andrewcriddle

Did the society blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton , the villain in the Holmes short story of that name, eventually murdered by one of his victims, really exist ?

Milverton appears based on the society blackmailer Charles Augustus Howell, allegedly murdered by one of his victims.

Andrew Criddle