Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter argues that imaginative simulation of other minds directly justifies altruistic actions. It defends this claim against opponents who would claim that imagination cannot justify anything, that it can directly justify beliefs but not actions, or that it specifically justifies self-interested actions but not altruistic ones. The argument proceeds by analyzing what principles best explain the things that imaginative simulation intuitively seems to justify in less controversial cases, as when forming beliefs and when foreseeing the self-involving outcomes of actions. It then shows that the most straightforward extension of those principles implies that imagining other minds justifies altruism. The status of these justifications, however, depends on whether imagination is essential to representing other minds or merely one heuristic among many.</jats:p>