Belief and desire in imagination and immersion

Susanna Schellenberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

I argue that any account of imagination should satisfy the following three desiderata. First, imaginations induce actions only in conjunction with beliefs about the environment of the imagining subject. Second, there is a continuum between imaginations and beliefs. Recognizing this continuum is crucial to explain the phenomenon of imaginative immersion. Third, the mental states that relate to imaginations in the way that desires relate to beliefs are a special kind of desire, namely desires to make true in fiction. These desires to make true in fiction do not differ from regular desires in kind, but only in content. I argue for these three desiderata in turn by critically discussing several recent accounts of imagination.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)497-516
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Philosophy
Volume110
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2013
Externally publishedYes

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