Theory of Mind and Science Fiction DOI: 10.1057/9781137399120.0001 Other Palgrave Pivot titles David Beer: Punk Sociology Owen Anderson: Reason and Faith in the Theology of Charles Hodge: American Common Sense Realism Jenny Ruth Ritchie and Mere Skerrett: Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand: History, Pedagogy, and Liberation François Bouchetoux: Writing Anthropology: A Call for Uninhibited Methods Robin M. 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Pagan  Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-39911-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act , or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, – Kirby Street, London EC1N TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act . First published  by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,  Fifth Avenue, New York, NY . Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN: 978–1–137–39912–0 PDF ISBN: 978-1-137-39911-3 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. www.palgrave.com/pivot DOI: 10.1057/9781137399120 Contents Acknowledgments vi About the Author vii Introduction: Literature and the Emergence of Theory of Mind 1 1 Science Fiction and Other Minds 17 2 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus: Correcting Faulty Mind-reading 23 3 Stapledon’s Star Maker: Cosmic Minds and the Triumph of Theory of Mind 34 4 A. E. van Vogt’s Slan: Intimations of Superior Theory of Mind 45 5 Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: What Happened to Affective Empathy? 55 Conclusion 67 Bibliography 71 Index 76 DOI: 10.1057/9781137399120.0001 v Acknowledgments Many thanks to Lynn Talit, especially because while we were discussing another project that focuses on the con- fluence of literature and mind she made me think about the importance of mind in science fiction. Thanks also to Norman N. Holland, founder of the PsyArt Foundation, based at the University of Florida, for the interest that he has taken in my work and for his unflagging encourage- ment, particularly over the past five years; and to Ufuk Özdağ and Cem Kılıçarslan of Hacettepe University, for their hospitality and insight. Thanks are also due to Sıla Çerkez for her infectious passion for Mary Shelley, Yi (Jasmine) Zheng for help with technical matters and for her perennial optimism, and to Isaac and Ulrike Lerner. I am also very grateful to Sharifah Aishah Binti Osman for offering me the position of Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Malaya for the academic year 2013–2014 and to one of Palgrave Pivot’s anonymous reviewers for the very constructive feedback. vi DOI: 10.1057/9781137399120.0002 About the Author Nicholas O. Pagan is currently a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. His most recent publication, ‘The Evolution of Literary Theory and the Literary Mind,’ appears in the Fall 2013 issue of Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory. He has a monograph entitled The Literary Mind: From Phenomenology to Thing Theory currently under review. DOI: 10.1057/9781137399120.0003 vii Introduction: Literature and the Emergence of Theory of Mind Abstract: After a brief summary of theory of mind from its inception in Premack and Woodruff’s ‘Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?’ and in the work of Nicholas Humphrey and others, this introduction highlights the rigorous distinction between theory of mind and empathy made popular in the field of social neuroscience by Tania Singer. Mirror neurons and the pros and cons of other distinctions, including ‘theory’ theory of mind (TT) versus ‘simulation’ theory of mind (ST) and ‘cognitive’ versus ‘affective’ empathy are also discussed. Some shortcomings in recent scholarship that attempts to examine the confluence between theory of mind and literature are also noted, and it is suggested that the literary genre par excellence for staging these issues is science fiction. Pagan, Nicholas O. Theory of Mind and Science Fiction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. doi: 10.1057/9781137399120.0004. DOI: 10.1057/9781137399120.0004 