User:Pengchen.Dai/sandbox

= Imagination =

Etymology
The term "imagination" originates from the Latin word "imaginatio," which translates to "mental image," "fancy" or "imagination." It is the standard Latin translation of the Greek term "phantasia," referring to the mental processes similar to what we now understand as perception or fantasy. In his dialogue Philebus, Plato discusses daydreaming and considers imaginations about the future as the work of a painter within the soul. However, Plato portrays this painter as an illustrator rather than a creator, reflecting his view of phantasia as a representational rather than an inventive faculty.

Ancient
"'For imagination is different from either perceiving or discursive thinking, though it is not found without sensation, or judgement without it' -- On the Soul, 3.3."The ancient Greek conception of "phantasia" did not encompass the creative capacity associated with the modern understanding of "imagination." Greek philosophers, such as Plato, distinguished imagination from perception in terms that the latter involves "real" appearances in consciousness, while images produced by imagination are "unreal". Aristotle, in his work On the Soul, identified imagination as the faculty that bridges the senses and intellect. He considered it capable of forming mental images.

However, these images, whether arising from visions or dreams, were thought to be transmitted through the lower aspects of the soul, suggesting that they, while having some basis in truth, could be influenced by emotions and primal desires. Thus, in ancient thought, imagination was also distinct from rational thinking.

Middle Ages
"'Many aspects of the medieval imagination involve the marvellous.' -- Le Goff (1988)"In the Middle Ages, imagination was widely associated with literary and artistic creations, encompassing domains such as religion, literature, painting, and notably, poetry. It was believed that imagination had the capacity to combine mental images received from sensory perception, allowing for the creation of novel concepts, for instance, fusing images of "gold" and "mountain" to produce the idea of a "golden mountain." This signifies a recurring theme in medieval artistic expressions: imagination combines images of tangible things to portray legendary, mysterious, or extraordinary creatures.

See also the Category: Medieval European legendary creatures

Medieval theories of Faculty psychology, drawing from the Aristotelian faculties and St. Augustine's tripartite division of the rational soul, posit imagination as a faculty of the internal senses (alongside memory and Common sense), performing a filtering function concerning reality. It receives sensory input from the external world through the external senses, transforms these perceptions into mental images, organizes them, and then transmits them to the reasoning faculties.

Although lacking the inherent creative ability to produce entirely new creations, imagination plays a crucial role in artistic pursuits, encompassing domains such as religion, literature, painting, and notably, poetry. This significance stems partially from imagination's capacity to recombine mental images, as seen in the fusion of concepts like "gold" and "mountain" to create the idea of a "golden mountain," a recurring theme in medieval art and literature.