Fiction, imagination, and normative rationality

Rationality is a cornerstone of economics. The properties defining rationality are embodied by the Rational Agent, whose actions are prescriptive for economic agents. However, the Rational Agent is a fictional character: so why should real agents act like it? The Rational Agent takes its normative force from the argu- ments in support of the properties it embodies. In this paper, I explore the grounds for the normative force of the Rational Agent by looking at one of them. I explain the compelling pull of the famous Dutch Book argument using tools from narratology. I contend that the argument presents a branching narrative structure that allows the comparison of outcomes. Thus, the agent can see that one option serves her economic desires better than the other, and this is the specif- ic way in which it provides normative support to the rational agent. Since the comparison of outcomes requires the use of imagination, I conclude the paper drawing some implications of my analysis for a connection between imagination and action.