Imagination, Desire, and Irrationality: A Defense of i-desire Account

Abstract : There are three competing theories (imagination + i-desire, imagination + desire, and desire + desire) to account for our affective responses to fictional events. The proponents of imagination + i-desire argue that the alternative accounts imply that consumers of fiction are irrational. In Imagination, Desire and Rationality, Spaulding challenges this claim and argues that the imagination + desire and desire + desire accounts do not imply that consumers of fiction are irrational. In this paper, I attempt to rebut Spaulding’s arguments.