Project

Perspectival Imagination in Perception and Thought

Program

Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowships

Department

Philosophy

Abstract

This project is about our capacity to adopt “perspectives” in imagination, focusing on four distinct cases: perception, metaphor, fiction, and the constitution of self. A perspective alters how we think, rather than what we think about, by imposing an intuitive, holistic structure on a complex set of facts. Perspectives are often described metaphorically, in terms of “seeing something in a new light.” These shifts in perspective can make a significant practical difference to what we can do with information we already possess. Drawing on previously published work and discussions by philosophers, cognitive scientists, and linguists, this study articulates a more literal, detailed, and empirically grounded account of perspectives in human cognition.