This is a book about imaginative work and its relationship with the
construction of knowledge. It is fully acknowledged by epistemologists
that imagination is not something opposed to rationality; it is not mere
fantasy opposed to intellect. In philosophy and cognitive sciences,
imagination is generally "delimiting not much more than the mental
ability to interact cognitively with things that are not now present via
the senses." (Stuart, 2017, p. 11) For centuries, scholars and poets
have wondered where this capability could come from, whether it is
inspired by divinity or it is a peculiar feature of human mind (Tateo,
2017b).
The omnipresence of imaginative work in both every day and highly
specialized human activities requires a profoundly radical understanding
of this phenomenon. We need to work imaginatively in order to achieve
knowledge, thus imagination must be something more than a mere flight of
fantasy. Considering different stories in the field of scientific
endeavor, I will try to propose the idea that the imaginative process is
fundamental higher mental function that concurs in our experiencing,
knowing and understanding the world we are part of. This book is thus
about a theoretical idea of imagining as constant part of the complex
whole we call the human psyche. It is a story of human beings striving
not only for knowledge and exploration but also striving for imagining
possibilities.