Theory of Mind and Science Fiction

Theory of Mind and Science Fiction shows how theory of mind provides an exciting 'new' way to think about science fiction and, conversely, how science fiction sheds light not only on theory of mind but also empathy, morality, and the nature of our humanity.

Nicholas Pagan provides an introduction to 'Theory of Mind' a concept apparently first named as such in 1978 when researchers into primates investigated whether chimpanzees were able to intuit that they and other chimps were minds that were self-aware. Pagan writes clearly and accessibly and this book would be an excellent choice for an introduction to the idea of the way sf can act as an exploration of ideas about the mind, or consciousness. (Andy Sawyer, Foundation, Issue 122, 2015)

"Nicholas Pagan's bold, innovative, and unusually interesting book shows that theory of mind gives us a new and powerful way of reading science-fiction (or, really, anything else). As a bonus his introduction sets out what, as far as I know, are all the neuroscientific theories about how and why we intuit the way others' minds are working. This is abook of both scope and penetration." - Norman Holland, author of Literature and the Brain, USA

"Theory of Mind began in biology and psychology, comparing what humans feel and know of other human minds and what other animals know of minds of their own kind. We now think of Theory of Mind as an essential ground of fiction, and of fiction in turn as a training ground for Theory of Mind. Nicholas Pagan ventures into a new dimension by showing us that science fiction again and again makes or confronts us with or takes us to or allows us to enter (or not to enter) new kinds of minds.' - Brian Boyd, Distinguished Professor of English, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Autorentext

Nicholas O. Pagan is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. He has published in journals that include Philological Quarterly, Mosaic, and Foundations of Science. His latest article, 'The Evolution of Literary Theory and of the Literary Mind' appears in Interdisciplinary Literary Studies 15:2 (2013).

Inhalt
Acknowledgements Introduction. Literature and the Emergence of Theory of Mind 1. Science Fiction and Other Minds 2. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus: Correcting Faulty Mind-reading 3. Stapledon's Star Maker: Cosmic Minds and the Triumph of Theory of Mind 4. E. A. van Vogt's Slan: Intimations of Superior Theory of Mind 5. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep: What Happened to Affective Empathy? Conclusion Bibliography Index