engleski

To see, to imagine, to make believe: an account of (mind)reading

In this text, I am trying to articulate the connection between our ability to understand other minds and, on the one hand, plan our actions according to that understanding, and on the other, our appreciation of literature. The first part of the text introduces the notion of mindreading and presents two competing theories which aim to explain it: theory-theory (TT) and simulation theory(ST). Theory-theory claims that we understand the minds of other people, even our own mind, because we possess the theory of mind. According to this approach, our understanding of other minds is predicated upon folk psychological theory which is constituted by a network of interlinkedconcepts. This theory enables its practitioners to derive explanations from the set of laws or rules that connect the explanatory conditions with the behavior explained. Simulation theory claims that we understand other minds by imaginatively projecting ourselves into their situations and using our own minds as a model of theirs. So, we are capable of simulating their mental processes ; thereby, we can guess what they know and how they feel and, on that basis, we can predict their future actions. The second part of the text connects our mindreading with our reading abilities by arguing that reading acts are capable of calling forth from us imaginative responses that are similar to those called forth by our encounters with real people and our dealing in everyday situations. Reading literature can help us to develop and enhance our mindreading abilities because reading often provides better conditions for activating the perspective taking than real-life situations. The combination of narratological and philosophical perspectives provides the basis for an integrative account of an important aspects of understanding other minds (mindreading) and understanding narratives (reading).

mindreading ; theory-theory ; simulation theory ; imagine-self ; imagine-other ; narratology

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