Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Surveying the Imagination Landscape
- Part I Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
- 2 The Evolution of a Human Imagination
- 3 Material Imagination: An Anthropological Perspective
- 4 The Archaeological Imagination
- 5 Philosophical Perspectives on Imagination in the Western Tradition
- 6 Imagination in Classical India: A Short Introduction
- 7 From Prediction to Imagination
- 8 Memory and Imagination: Perspectives on Constructive Episodic Simulation
- 9 Capturing the Imagination
- 10 A Sociocultural Perspective on Imagination
- 11 Artificial Intelligence and Imagination
- Part II Imagery-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part III Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part IV Novel Combinatorial Forms of the Imagination
- Part V Phenomenology-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part VI Altered States of the Imagination
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
5 - Philosophical Perspectives on Imagination in the Western Tradition
from Part I - Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2020
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Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Surveying the Imagination Landscape
- Part I Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
- 2 The Evolution of a Human Imagination
- 3 Material Imagination: An Anthropological Perspective
- 4 The Archaeological Imagination
- 5 Philosophical Perspectives on Imagination in the Western Tradition
- 6 Imagination in Classical India: A Short Introduction
- 7 From Prediction to Imagination
- 8 Memory and Imagination: Perspectives on Constructive Episodic Simulation
- 9 Capturing the Imagination
- 10 A Sociocultural Perspective on Imagination
- 11 Artificial Intelligence and Imagination
- Part II Imagery-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part III Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part IV Novel Combinatorial Forms of the Imagination
- Part V Phenomenology-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part VI Altered States of the Imagination
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
Philosophers in the Western tradition have both theorized about imagination and used imagination in their theorizing about other matters. In this chapter, I first provide a brief overview of philosophical theorizing about imagination with a special focus on its relation to other mental states such as belief and perception. I then turn to a discussion of the methodological role that imagination has played in philosophy. I here focus on the imaginability principle, i.e. the claim that the imaginability of a given scenario entails that such a scenario is in some sense possible. Relying on this kind of principle, philosophers have used imagination to justify theories in domains such as philosophy of mind, metaphysics and ethics.
Keywords
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- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination , pp. 64 - 79Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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