 A general assessment of fictionalism is difficult since the positions included under this heading differ considerably from each other. Much depends on how exactly the “fictional attitude” is spelled out. Many versions of fictionalism are prone to the “phenomenological objection”: external talk about fictitious objects—to mention one of the applications of the fictionalist strategy that is particularly relevant in the context of the present entry—does not feel like “make-believe”; introspection does not reveal that we are engaged in any kind of pretense when we say things like “Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous characters of popular literature” and the like.