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- Title
Counterfactuals, Belief, and Inquiry by Thought Experiment.
- Authors
Leicester, Jonathan
- Abstract
The case is presented that counterfactual thinking evolved from trial of action for inquiry into current problems. Counterfactual thinking is regulated by belief. It is activated automatically by the belief that there is a problem, and terminated by the belief that a satisfactory response is found or cannot be found. The evaluation of bad outcomes is a special case, being one among many classes of problem. The other uses of counterfactual thinking, including its extension to other applications, and its prevention of repeating the same mistake, are secondary benefits. This unified view of counterfactual thinking is seen more clearly with the original definition of counterfactual from philosophy, which allows the inclusion of future-directed conditionals.
- Subjects
COUNTERFACTUALS (Logic); BELIEF sentences (Logic); INQUIRY (Theory of knowledge); REASON; RATIONALISM
- Publication
Journal of Mind & Behavior, 2012, Vol 33, Issue 3/4, p195
- ISSN
0271-0137
- Publication type
Article