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Anthony ChenHZT4UE-04 (P. Rose)2014-9-22Theory of Knowledge Journal

When one mentions the word imagination, what first comes to my mind is the mental capacity to

form images and sensations that are not directly perceived through the senses. Often, one

associates imagination with creativity, but from this analogy, imagination separates itself from the

four fundamental ways of knowing- emotion, reason, language, and perception. Imagination in

nature is not restrained to reality, nor the laws of logic. However, when it comes down to our ways

of knowing, can imagination truly be relied upon as a legitimate means of obtaining knowledge?

First, lets focus on the role of imagination in producing knowledge . The most common

knock on imagination as a way of knowing is that there is a certain degree of uncertainty it is

associated with. It is regarded as something that comes from the mind of the individual, something

subjective. Whereas knowledge deals with facts, information, and real skills, imagination lies only in

fiction. But in reality, imagination covers all the areas of knowledge, even those believed to be

based purely on logical reasoning, namely in mathematics and the sciences. After all, there are

certain things that cannot be realized through logic alone. Calculus, among many other

mathematical studies, did not exist since the beginning of time. It took until the 17 th century for

modern calculus to be developed, and to this day, new concepts are being developed by academics

worldwide. William Blake w as once quoted, What is now proved was once only imagined. Each

and every day, we use our imagination to develop new ideas and theories based on the concepts we

are already familiar with.

From this standpoint, imagination qualifies as a way of knowing, as it helps us gain

knowledge of the world by using existing knowledge to create more possibilities. Consider a

situation where we picked a random adult, and asked him to draw a picture with the only reference

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being Eggman. Assuming th at the adult is fluent in English, he breaks down the reference into two

parts, egg, and man. From here on, he proceeds to draw a human being, with the only difference

being that the head has been replaced by a large egg. The man may have never heard of the term

Eggman, but inherently, he uses the concepts of language, along with fundamental motor skills to

construct such a picture. In a more practical example, we can use the field of science to show how

imagination is used in seeking knowledge. The basis of science as a body of knowledge in the form

of explanations and predictions about the universe all leads back to imagination, where scientists

take the data they have collected, and imagine possible explanations as to why the results are as

they are. They imagine possible explanations as to how the universe behaves, and they explore it to

test their hypotheses. By imagining different interpretations of their results, they take into account

many factors and possibilities, to meet their purpose, which is to ultimately gain more knowledge

about the universe.

Imagination, like other ways of knowing, should not be the sole way in which one obtains

knowledge of the world they live in. It has its limitations, for though imagination can most definitely

expand ones concept of reality, whether it be through artistic expression or the undertaking of

scientific research, it cannot confirm reality without relying on the other ways of knowing. If we

take an author, for example, he can imagine many ways of presenting the story he wishes to tell, but

only a few ways may reach his true intentions for a final work. He might use emotion to capture the

feelings he wishes to invoke in his work and he would definitely need to use language to effectively

express his ideas to his audience. Along with all the ways of knowing that contributed to the

creation of his work, imagination equally plays a pivotal role in the process, as the author would not

have the ideas for the work in the first place. In conclusion, imagination effectively helps humans

understand the world around them in new ways by synthesizing knowledge previously obtained

into new ideas and concepts, in a process that cannot be characterized by the four fundamental

ways of knowing.