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Series:   Elements in Creativity and Imagination

Landscapes of the Imagination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2024

Gerald C. Cupchik
Gerald C. Cupchik
Affiliation:
University of Toronto, Scarborough

Summary

The idea that imagination is everywhere in our lives, and that reality is an illusion, may sound absurd to the concrete mind. This book will try to convince you that imagination manifests in different 'phases,' encompassing even the most fundamental ideas about what is real (ontology) and what is true (epistemology). It is present in the contents (e.g., images) and the acts (e.g., fantasy) of our minds. Imagination helps us remove barriers through conscious planning and finds ways to fulfill unconscious desires. The many words related to imagination in the English language are part of a unified web and share a “family resemblance.” The first section of this book deals with imagination in everyday life, the second focuses on aesthetic imagination, and the third discusses scholarly approaches that incorporate both imagination types. The fourth section proposes a unified model integrating the diverse ways that imagination is manifested in our culture.
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Keywords

imaginationphase theoryemotionaestheticscreativity
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Creativity and Imagination
Online ISBN: 9781009472043
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 31 January 2025

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