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The rational imagination : how people create alternatives to reality / Ruth M.J. Byrne.
Author
Byrne, Ruth M. J.
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Format
Book
Language
English
Published/Created
Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2005.
Description
xiv, 254 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Availability
Available Online
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Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks
B105.I49 B97 2005
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Subject(s)
Imagination (Philosophy)
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Reasoning
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Thought and thinking
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Summary note
"The human imagination remains one of the last uncharted terrains of the mind. This accessible and original monograph explores a central aspect of the imagination, the creation of counterfactual alternatives to reality, and claims that imaginative thoughts are guided by the same principles that underlie rational thoughts. Research has shown that rational thought is more imaginative than cognitive scientists had supposed; in The Rational Imagination, Ruth Byrne argues that imaginative thought is more rational than scientists have imagined." "People often create alternatives to reality and imagine how events might have turned out "if only" something had been different. Byrne explores the "fault lines" of reality, the aspects of reality that are more readily changed in imaginative thoughts. She finds that our tendencies to imagine alternatives to actions, controllable events, socially unacceptable actions, causal and enabling relations, and events that come last in a temporal sequence provide clues to the cognitive processes upon which the counterfactual imagination depends. The explanation of these processes, Byrne argues, rests on the idea that imaginative thought and rational thought have much in common. Book jacket."--Jacket.
Notes
"A Bradford book."
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-241) and index.
Contents
The counterfacutal imagination
Imagination and rational thought
Imagining how actions might have been different
Thinking about what should have happened
Causal relations and counterfactuals
"Even if ..."
The "last chance"
Individuals and creative thoughts
The idea of a rational imigination.
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ISBN
0262025841 ((alk. paper))
9780262025843 ((alk. paper))
LCCN
2004063262
OCLC
57349098
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
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The rational imagination : how people create alternatives to reality / Ruth M.J. Byrne.
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