
Inventions of the Imagination
. Ed(S): Gray, Richard T.; Halmi, Nicholas; Handwerk, Gary J.; Rosenthal, Michael A.; Vieweg, Klaus
The dialectic between reason and imagination forms a key element in Romantic and post- Romantic philosophy, science, literature, and art. Inventions of the Imagination explores the diverse theories and assessments of this dialectic in essays by philosophers and literary and cultural critics. By the end of the eighteenth century, reason as the predominant human faculty had run its course, and imagination emerged as another force whose contributions to human intellectual existence and productivity had to be newly calculated and constantly recalibrated. The attempt to establish a universal form of reason alongside a plurality of imaginative capacities describes the ideological program of modernism from the end of the eighteenth century to the present day. This collection chronicles some of the vicissitudes in the conceptualization and evaluation of the imagination across time and in various disciplines.
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About . Ed(S): Gray, Richard T.; Halmi, Nicholas; Handwerk, Gary J.; Rosenthal, Michael A.; Vieweg, Klaus
Reviews for Inventions of the Imagination
John Guthrie
Modern Language Review
"This is a stimulating collection of papers, foregrounding the role of the imagination at a time when its lack can be almost palpably felt across the educational curriculum and in the political arena."
Paul Bishop
Journal of European Studies
"The collection as a whole provides ample material for thinking about the epistemic role of the imagination. . . . [I]t makes an important contribution not only to the history of philosophy and the study of romanticism, but also to contemporary questions in hermeneutics, theories of knowledge and aesthetics."
Dalia Nassar
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews