We study imagination as reality-oriented mental simulation (ROMS): the activity of simulating non-actual scenarios in one’s mind, to investigate what would happen if they were realized. Three connected questions concerning ROMS are: What is the logic, if there is one, of such an activity? How can we gain new knowledge via it? What is voluntary in it and what is not? We address them by building a list of core features of imagination as ROMS, drawing on research in cognitive psychology and the philosophy of mind. We then provide a logic of imagination as ROMS which models such features, combining techniques from epistemic logic, action logic, and subject matter semantics. Our logic comprises a modal propositional language with non-monotonic imagination operators, a formal semantics, and an axiomatization.

Berto, F., Canavotto, I., Giordani, A., Voluntary Imagination: A Fine-Grained Analysis, <<THE REVIEW OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC>>, N/A; 15 (2): 362-387. [doi:10.1017/S1755020320000039] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/158532]

Voluntary Imagination: A Fine-Grained Analysis

Canavotto, Ilaria
Co-primo
;
Giordani, Alessandro
Co-primo
2022

Abstract

We study imagination as reality-oriented mental simulation (ROMS): the activity of simulating non-actual scenarios in one’s mind, to investigate what would happen if they were realized. Three connected questions concerning ROMS are: What is the logic, if there is one, of such an activity? How can we gain new knowledge via it? What is voluntary in it and what is not? We address them by building a list of core features of imagination as ROMS, drawing on research in cognitive psychology and the philosophy of mind. We then provide a logic of imagination as ROMS which models such features, combining techniques from epistemic logic, action logic, and subject matter semantics. Our logic comprises a modal propositional language with non-monotonic imagination operators, a formal semantics, and an axiomatization.
2022
Inglese
Berto, F., Canavotto, I., Giordani, A., Voluntary Imagination: A Fine-Grained Analysis, <<THE REVIEW OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC>>, N/A; 15 (2): 362-387. [doi:10.1017/S1755020320000039] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/158532]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10807/158532
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