Representation, Simulation, and Acting: Henry James's 'The Real Thing' and what is Right with Wrong Assumptions
Type
presentation
Date Issued
2016-11-06
Author(s)
Abstract
False assumptions play an important role for model-building in a number of scientific disciplines. They are omnipresent in economics where the assumption of ‘economic man’ is at the center. They have found their way into moral philosophy where they figure prominently in social contract theories of justice. They are important in the natural sciences where they are, among other things, instrumental in simulations that combine different subfields, such as molecular dynamics and continuum mechanics. Pertaining to research on simulation in the natural sciences, Winsberg determines that “[f]alse assumptions [...] can be systematically successful” (2006, p. 594). However, there is no theory which explains why false assumptions are indispensable to the sciences. I want to contribute to such a theory by taking a look at Henry James’s 1892-short-story “The Real Thing”. In it James demonstrates that the artistic representation of nobility can work better when performed by working class people than by real noblemen. In other words, under certain circumstances the unreal can represent what is crucial about the real better than the real itself can. Furthermore, James introduces a couple of remarks on why this could be the case. He, for example, argues that to get a good representation one must not stick too closely to the original. Thereby James implicitly draws a distinction between exact representation and crucial representation.
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SHSS - Kulturen, Institutionen, Maerkte (KIM)
Event Title
Creativity: Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts
Event Location
Atlanta
Event Date
3.-6. November 2016
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
249868