Make-Believe and the Self A Look at Self-Deception and the Self of an Actor

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Edidin, Aron

Keywords

Imagination, Selfhood, Beliefs

Area of Concentration

Philosophy

Abstract

This thesis deals with the phenomenon of make-believe and its relationship to the self. Specifically, it investigates the kind of self that can result from the integration of imaginings with belief structures. The thesis looks closely at the self of an actor and of one kind of self-deceiver to examine how making believe can effect a belief structure and can consequently divide the structure of the self. The ideas on make-believe here presented were inspired by the works of Kendall Walton. The teachings of Sanford Meisner and Constantin Stanislavsky were used to better grasp the mental goings on of an actor. The conclusion, that some actors and self-deceivers use make-believe in order to realize their respective goals or desires but consequently obtain a divided self, is the result of my thinking and writing about the nature of imagination, belief and the self.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS