The puzzle of imagistic cognition

We often use mental imagery to solve practical problems. If I am an experienced builder of wooden bird houses, I can build a bird house without a plan on paper. I can imagine what the finished bird house should look like. I can imagine what the dimensions of the various pieces should be. I can cut the pieces of wood to the dimensions I have imagined. I can then put the pieces together to form a bird house that looks just like what I had imagined. In using mental imagery in such ways, we exercise a distinctive kind of knowledge – call it imagistic knowledge. The aim of this project will be to conduct and stimulate research into the nature of imagistic cognition, with the aim of characterizing the kind of knowledge it employs.

Keywords:IMAGINATION

Disciplines:Theory and methodology of philosophy, Philosophy, Other philosophy, ethics and religious studies not elsewhere classified

Project type:Collaboration project