ABSTRACT
One striking fact about imaginative identification is how good literature is at doing it. Another striking fact is how bad moral philosophy, as standardly and normally practised, is at either doing imaginative identification, or even at accommodating the doing of it within its theoretical structures. In itself, the notion of imaginative identification has seemed philosophically dubious to moral philosophers, especially the majority who are also analytic philosophers, for three reasons in particular. The eliminativist worry about imaginative identification just notes its deep involvement with intentional psychology. Those who have wished to make moral philosophy deeper, more humane, and more interesting have often wished to make more space in it for the notion of imaginative identification. Moral philosophy is not drama, and does not need to try to be; it would be absurd to suggest that moral philosophy ought to attempt to mimic such achievements.
