Pretense and imagination

Issues of pretense and imagination are of central interest to philosophers, psychologists, and researchers in allied fields. In this entry, we provide a roadmap of some of the central themes around which discussion has been focused. We begin with an overview of pretense, imagination, and the relationship between them. We then shift our attention to the four specific topics where the disciplines' research programs have intersected or where additional interactions could prove mutually beneficial: the psychological underpinnings of performing pretense and of recognizing pretense, the cognitive capacities involved in imaginative engagement with fictions, and the real-world impact of make-believe. In the final section, we discuss more briefly a number of other mental activities that arguably involve imagining, including counterfactual reasoning, delusions, and dreaming. WIREs Cogn Sci 2011 2 79–94 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.91 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs websitePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78499/1/91_ftp.pd

Players, Characters, and the Gamer's Dilemma

Is there any difference between playing video games in which the player's character commits murder and video games in which the player's character commits pedophilic acts? Morgan Luck's “Gamer's Dilemma” has established this question as a puzzle concerning notions of permissibility and harm. We propose that a fruitful alternative way to approach the question is through an account of aesthetic engagement. We develop an alternative to the dominant account of the relationship between players and the actions of their characters, and argue that the ethical difference between so-called “virtual murder” and “virtual pedophilia” is to be understood in terms of the fiction-making resources available to players. We propose that the relevant considerations for potential players to navigate concern (1) attempting to make certain characters intelligible, and (2) using aspects of oneself as resources for homomorphic representation.Peer reviewe

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 3 (parts of the soul I)

Professor Gendler reviews four instances of intrapersonal divisions that have appeared in philosophy, literature, psychology, and neuroscience: Plato's division between reason, spirit, and appetite; Hume's division between reason and passion; Freud's division between id, ego, and superego; and four divisions discussed by Jonathan Haidt (mind/body, left brain/right brain, old brain/new brain, and controlled/automatic thought). A discussion of a particularly vivid passage from Plato's phaedrus concludes the lectureEducação Superior::Ciências Humanas::Filosofi

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 2 (the ring of gyges: morality and hypocrisy)

Educação Superior::Ciências Humanas::FilosofiaProfessor Gendler explains the interdisciplinary nature of the course: work from philosophy, psychology, behavioral economics and literature will be brought to bear on the topic of human nature. The three main topics of the course are introduced - happiness and flourishing, morality and political philosoph

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 5 (the well-ordered soul: happiness and harmony)

The aim of the video it´s to show about the Plato’s analogy between the city-state and the soul and articulates Plato’s response to Glaucon’s challenge: justice is a kind of health - the well-ordered working of each of the parts of the individual - and thus is intrinsically valuable. This theme is explored further via psychological research on the ‘progress principle’ and ‘hedonic treadmill,’ as well as in an introduction to Aristotle’s argument that reflection and reasoning are the function of humanity and thus the highest goodEducação Superior::Ciências Humanas::Filosofi

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 2 (the ring of gyges: morality and hypocrisy)

Educação Superior::Ciências Humanas::FilosofiaProfessor Gendler explains the interdisciplinary nature of the course: work from philosophy, psychology, behavioral economics and literature will be brought to bear on the topic of human nature. The three main topics of the course are introduced - happiness and flourishing, morality and political philosoph

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 1 - introduction

Professor Gendler explains the interdisciplinary nature of the course: work from philosophy, psychology, behavioral economics and literature will be brought to bear on the topic of human nature. The three main topics of the course are introduced - happiness and flourishing, morality and political philosophyEducação Superior::Ciências Humanas::Filosofi

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 5 (the well-ordered soul: happiness and harmony)

The aim of the video it´s to show about the Plato’s analogy between the city-state and the soul and articulates Plato’s response to Glaucon’s challenge: justice is a kind of health - the well-ordered working of each of the parts of the individual - and thus is intrinsically valuable. This theme is explored further via psychological research on the ‘progress principle’ and ‘hedonic treadmill,’ as well as in an introduction to Aristotle’s argument that reflection and reasoning are the function of humanity and thus the highest goodEducação Superior::Ciências Humanas::Filosofi

Philosophy and the science of human nature - lecture 1 - introduction

Professor Gendler explains the interdisciplinary nature of the course: work from philosophy, psychology, behavioral economics and literature will be brought to bear on the topic of human nature. The three main topics of the course are introduced - happiness and flourishing, morality and political philosophyEducação Superior::Ciências Humanas::Filosofi