Imaginary desires

• Main Author: Davis, J. F.
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2015
• Subjects: 100
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.647214

This thesis assesses the case for introducing an imaginative counterpart to desire. The first chapter considers what an imaginative counterpart is, and some initial worries related to introducing an imaginative counterpart to desire. The second chapter considers whether our third person mindreading abilities, and a puzzle about what mental states motivate children’s pretend play, give us reason for introducing i - desires. The third chapter considers whether we have to introduce i - desires to make sense of the desires we apparently direct towards fictional characters. I will argue that introducing i - desires deepens the puzzles related to these three cases, and that genuine desire - based solutions do a better job of making sense of them. I will thus conclude that desire does not have an imaginative counterpart.