Quixotic Reasoning
Counterfactuals, Causation and Literary Storyworlds
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4389833 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karin Kukkonen (0000-0001-5240-3280, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 47-61 |
| Publication date | 2014-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Paragraph (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0264-8334 • E-ISSN: 1750-0176 |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3366/para.2014.0109 |
| OpenAlex | W2156620631 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Bayesian probability calculus has recently emerged as a model for how the mind learns about fictional and cultural environments. This essay considers reading a narrative as a process of learning about the probabilities of the fictional world and explores two novels about Quixotic readers from a Bayesian perspective. The juxtaposition of the fictional and the real, which the standard understanding of the Quixote relies on, is replaced by an outline of the dynamics of the learning process in Quixotes who already know 'the rule', that is, the probabilities of their fictional environment, but need to use this knowledge with discernment. The conclusion draws connexions between the Quixotic learning process and the ways in which fiction contributes to human mental, social and cultural development
Causation · Counterfactual conditional · Counterfactual thinking · Discernment · Epistemology · Linguistics · Narrative · Perspective (graphical · Process (computing · Reading (process · Sociology · Computer Science · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
| Highly cited | No |
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