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Review
. 2022;17(4):243-249.
doi: 10.1007/s13752-022-00410-4. Epub 2022 Aug 30.

Imagination: A New Foundation for the Science of Mind

Stephen T Asma  1
Affiliations
Review

Imagination: A New Foundation for the Science of Mind

Stephen T Asma. Biol Theory. 2022.

Abstract

After a long hiatus, psychology and philosophy are returning to formal study of imagination. While excellent work is being done in the current environment, this article argues for a stronger thesis than usually adopted. Imagination is not just a peripheral feature of cognition or a domain for aesthetic research. It is instead the core operating system or cognitive capacity for humans and has epistemic and therapeutic functions that ground all our sense-making activities. A sketch of imagination as embodied cognition is offered, followed by suggestions of how to organize imagination studies into a more rigorous science-humanities research area.

Keywords: Affective neuroscience; Cognition; Creativity; Embodied cognition; Evolutionary psychology; Imagination; Mythopoetic; Philosophy of mind; Therapeutics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing InterestsThe author has no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests to disclose.

References

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