Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Journal | Volume | Article

167131

Through the eyes of mad men

simulation, interaction, and ethics

Mitchell Aboulafia

pp. n/a

Abstract

Traditionally pragmatists have been favorably disposed to improving our understanding of agency and ethics through the use of empirical research. In the last two decades simulation theory has been championed in certain cognitive science circles as a way of explaining how we attribute mental states and predict human behavior. Drawing on research in psychology and neuroscience, Alvin I. Goldman and Robert M. Gordon have not only used simulation theory to discuss how we “mindread,” but have suggested that the theory has implications for ethics. The limitations of simulation theory for “mindreading” and ethics are addressed in this article from an interactionist or neo-Meadian pragmatic perspective. To demonstrate the limitations of simulation theory scenes from the television show Mad Men are used as “thought-experiments.”

Publication details

Published in:

(2011) Pragmatism and the social sciences. European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 3 (2).

DOI: 10.4000/ejpap.828

Full citation:

Aboulafia Mitchell (2011) „Through the eyes of mad men: simulation, interaction, and ethics“. European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 3 (2), n/a.