Thinking of Others: On the Talent for Metaphor (Princeton Monographs in Philosophy (24))

In __Thinking of Others__, Ted Cohen argues that the ability to imagine oneself as another person is an indispensable human capacity--as essential to moral awareness as it is to literary appreciation--and that this talent for identification is the same as the talent for metaphor. To be able to see oneself as someone else, whether the someone else is a real person or a fictional character, is to exercise the ability to deal with metaphor and other figurative language. The underlying faculty, Cohen argues, is the same--simply the ability to think of one thing as another when it plainly is not. In an engaging style, Cohen explores this idea by examining various occasions for identifying with others, including reading fiction, enjoying sports, making moral arguments, estimating one's future self, and imagining how one appears to others. Using many literary examples, Cohen argues that we can engage with fictional characters just as intensely as we do with real people, and he looks at some of the ways literature itself takes up the question of interpersonal identification and understanding. An original meditation on the necessity of imagination to moral and aesthetic life, __Thinking of Others__ is an important contribution to philosophy and literary theory.

thinking Of Others Represents A Performance Of A Most Unusual Sort, Creating An Uncommon Relation To Its Reader And Differing Beginning To End From Other Books That Might Seem To Share Its Subjects. Ted Cohen's Book—so Full Of Interesting Thoughts And Fascinating Texts, And All Presented In So Charming A Manner—is A Notable Contribution.—stanley Cavell, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

the Body Of Work On Metaphor, Narrative, And Jokes That Ted Cohen Has Produced Over The Years Is One Of The Most Impressive Achievements Of Analytic Aesthetics. His Writing Exhibits Levels Of Wit, Warmth, And Conversational Accessibility That Are The Envy Of The Rest Of Us. thinking Of Others Explores The Close Analogies Between The Insight And Intimacy We Obtain From Metaphorical Identifications Like 'juliet Is The Sun' And The Insight And Intimacy We Obtain By Imagining Ourselves Into The Shoes Of Another Or The Shoes Of Our Own Future Self. For Cohen, The Terms On Which We Live With Large- And Small-scale Works Of Art Are Tightly Bound Up With Those On Which We Live With Each Other And With Ourselves; His Book Is As Much A Contribution To Ethics As To Aesthetics.—david Hills, Stanford University

s.a. Mason - Choice

the Important, Intriguing Subject Of This Small Book By Cohen—one's Capacity To Understand Others—is Full Of Perplexing Puzzles. Through Careful Analysis Of Interesting Examples, Cohen Makes Readers Wonder About Some Of The Major Impasses In Mutual Understanding Between People With Different Religious Perspectives, With Different Racial And Social Experiences, And Even With Allegiances To Different Baseball Teams.

In Thinking of Others, Ted Cohen argues that the ability to imagine oneself as another person is an indispensable human capacity—as essential to moral awareness as it is to literary appreciation—and that this talent for identification is the same as the talent for metaphor. To be able to see oneself as someone else, whether the someone else is a real person or a fictional character, is to exercise the ability to deal with metaphor and other figurative language. The underlying faculty, Cohen argues, is the same—simply the ability to think of one thing as another when it plainly is not.

In an engaging style, Cohen explores this idea by examining various occasions for identifying with others, including reading fiction, enjoying sports, making moral arguments, estimating one's future self, and imagining how one appears to others. Using many literary examples, Cohen argues that we can engage with fictional characters just as intensely as we do with real people, and he looks at some of the ways literature itself takes up the question of interpersonal identification and understanding.

An original meditation on the necessity of imagination to moral and aesthetic life, Thinking of Others is an important contribution to philosophy and literary theory.

Annotation InThinking of Others, Ted Cohen argues that the ability to imagine oneself as another person is an indispensable human capacity--as essential to moral awareness as it is to literary appreciation--and that this talent for identification is the same as the talent for metaphor. To be able to see oneself as someone else, whether the someone else is a real person or a fictional character, is to exercise the ability to deal with metaphor and other figurative language. The underlying faculty, Cohen argues, is the same--simply the ability to think of one thing as another when it plainly is not. In an engaging style, Cohen explores this idea by examining various occasions for identifying with others, including reading fiction, enjoying sports, making moral arguments, estimating one's future self, and imagining how one appears to others. Using many literary examples, Cohen argues that we can engage with fictional characters just as intensely as we do with real people, and he looks at some of the ways literature itself takes up the question of interpersonal identification and understanding. An original meditation on the necessity of imagination to moral and aesthetic life, Thinking of Othersis an important contribution to philosophy and literary theory "In Thinking of Others, Ted Cohen argues that the ability to imagine oneself as another person is an indispensable human capacity - as essential to moral awareness as it is to literary appreciation - and that this talent for identification is the same as the talent for metaphor. To be able to see oneself as someone else, whether the someone else is a real person or a fictional character, is to exercise the ability to deal with metaphor and other figurative language. The underlying faculty, Cohen argues, is the same - simply the ability to think of one thing as another when it plainly is not." "An original meditation on the necessity of imagination to moral and aesthetic life, Thinking of Others is an important contribution to philosophy and literary theory."--Jacket. Contents Acknowledgments CHAPTER ONE. The Talent for Metaphor CHAPTER TWO. Being a Good Sport CHAPTER THREE. From the Bible: Nathan and David CHAPTER FOUR. Real Feelings, Unreal People CHAPTER FIVE. More from the Bible: Abraham and God CHAPTER SIX. More Lessons from Sports CHAPTER SEVEN. Oneself Seen by Others CHAPTER EIGHT. Oneself as Oneself CHAPTER NINE. Lessons from Art CHAPTER TEN. The Possibility of Conversation, Moral and Otherwise CHAPTER ELEVEN. Conclusion: In Praise of Metaphor Index