Counterfactual thinking-- counterfactual writing / edited by Dorothee Birke, Michael Butter, Tilmann Köppe.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Birke, Dorothee.

Butter, Michael.

Köppe, Tilmann, 1977-

Series:

Linguae & litterae ; 12.

Linguae & litterae, 1869-7054 ; 12

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Counterfactuals (Logic).

Philosophy--Social aspects.

Philosophy.

Knowledge, Theory of.

Reality in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (264 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, c2011.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Counterfactuality is currently a hotly debated topic. While for some disciplines such as linguistics, cognitive science, or psychology counterfactual scenarios have been an important object of study for quite a while, counterfactual thinking has in recent years emerged as a method of study for other disciplines, most notably the social sciences. This volume provides an overview of the current definitions and uses of the concept of counterfactuality in philosophy, historiography, political sciences, psychology, linguistics, physics, and literary studies. The individual contributions not only engage the controversies that the deployment of counterfactual thinking as a method still generates, they also highlight the concept's potential to promote interdisciplinary exchange without neglecting the limitations and pitfalls of such a project. Moreover, the essays from literary studies, which make up about half of the volume, provide both a historical and a systematic perspective on the manifold ways in which counterfactual scenarios can be incorporated into and deployed in literary texts.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction: England Win / Butter, Michael / Birke, Dorothee / Köppe, Tilmann

First Steps Toward an Explication of Counterfactual Imagination / Albrecht, Andrea / Danneberg, Lutz

Thought Experiments and Literature / Klauk, Tobias

Counterfactual Explanation in Literature and the Social Sciences / Dohrn, Daniel

Counterfactual Thinking in Physics / Elwenspoek, Miko

Counterfactuals in the Social Context: The Case of Political Interviews and Their Effects / Catellani, Patrizia

A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective on Counterfactuality / Hilpert, Martin

Significance and Abstraction: Scientific Uses of Counterfactual Thought Experiments in the Early 20th Century / Kleeberg, Bernhard

What-If ? Counterfactuality and History / Waldenegg, Georg Christoph Berger

Counterfactuals, Contingency, and Causation / Lebow, Richard Ned

Plot vs. Story: Towards a Typology of Counterfactual Historical Novels / Widmann, Andreas Martin

"If I Were a Man": Functions of the Counterfactual in Feminist Fiction / Christ, Birte

Temporal Tourism: Time Travel and Counterfactuality in Literature and Film / Heinze, Rüdiger

"What Might Have Been Is Not What Is": Dickens's Narrative Refusals / Warhol, Robyn

How To Do Things With Worlds: From Counterfactuality to Counterfictionality / Saint-Gelais, Richard

List of Contributors

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9786613403049

9781283403047

1283403048

9783110268669

3110268663

OCLC:

769343108