The Self-Deceiving Muse: Notice and Knowledge in the Work of Art

Current philosophical discussions of self-deception remain steeped in disagreement and controversy. In The Self-Deceiving Muse, Alan Singer proposes a radical revision of our commonplace understanding of self-deception. Singer asserts that self-deception, far from being irrational, is critical to our capacity to be acute noticers of our experience. The book demonstrates how self-deception can be both a resource for rational activity generally and, more specifically, a prompt to aesthetic innovation. It thereby provides new insights into the ways in which our imaginative powers bear on art and life. The implicationsphilosophical, aesthetic, and ethicalof such a proposition indicate the broadly interdisciplinary thrust of this work, which incorporates readings of novels, paintings, films, and video art.