Abstract

Imaginatively adopted attitudes and ways of thinking sometimes persist, bleeding into day-to-day thoughts and interactions. Such imaginative contagion is often reported in the context of theatrical acting, and is also observed among videogame players and virtual reality users. A first question is how imaginative contagion occurs. This paper distinguishes immediate and delayed contagion, which differ in their temporal duration, and offers an explanation of each. Yet imaginative contagion also poses an ethical concern: troubling attitudes we imaginatively adopt might persist, damaging our moral character. This paper indicates how experiencing imaginative resistance, and our practicing techniques of active quarantine, can help to prevent our acquiring highly immoral attitudes, diminishing the concern about the corruptive influence of imaginative contagion.