Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Surveying the Imagination Landscape
- Part I Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
- Part II Imagery-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part III Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
- 19 Continuities and Discontinuities Between Imagination and Memory: The View from Philosophy
- 20 Imagining and Experiencing the Self on Cognitive Maps
- 21 The Neuroscience of Imaginative Thought: An Integrative Framework
- 22 Imagination and Self-Referential Thinking
- 23 Imaginary Friends: How Imaginary Minds Mimic Real Life
- 24 Imagination and Moral Cognition
- 25 Moral Reasoning: A Network Neuroscience Perspective
- 26 The Future-Directed Functions of the Imagination: From Prediction to Metaforesight
- Part IV Novel Combinatorial Forms of the Imagination
- Part V Phenomenology-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part VI Altered States of the Imagination
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
20 - Imagining and Experiencing the Self on Cognitive Maps
from Part III - Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2020
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Surveying the Imagination Landscape
- Part I Theoretical Perspectives on the Imagination
- Part II Imagery-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part III Intentionality-Based Forms of the Imagination
- 19 Continuities and Discontinuities Between Imagination and Memory: The View from Philosophy
- 20 Imagining and Experiencing the Self on Cognitive Maps
- 21 The Neuroscience of Imaginative Thought: An Integrative Framework
- 22 Imagination and Self-Referential Thinking
- 23 Imaginary Friends: How Imaginary Minds Mimic Real Life
- 24 Imagination and Moral Cognition
- 25 Moral Reasoning: A Network Neuroscience Perspective
- 26 The Future-Directed Functions of the Imagination: From Prediction to Metaforesight
- Part IV Novel Combinatorial Forms of the Imagination
- Part V Phenomenology-Based Forms of the Imagination
- Part VI Altered States of the Imagination
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
The recent years have brought into the forefront of cognitive neuroscience a mechanistic representation of the world in the cognitive system – cognitive maps. A “zoo” of different cells transforms the immediate experience of wandering in the environment into a maplike representation, written again and again in specific brain structures. Here we claim that another component is crucial for forming and interpreting these maps – the experiential and imaginary self. Through the concept of mental travel we explain how the self may be projected prior to the use of cognitive maps and how the world is referred to the self through the cognitive map. Biases and influences of the self may further affect the maps formation and interpretation. The concept of mental orientation is then suggested to include the experiencing self and the way in which it relates to the environment, as represented on cognitive maps, not only in spatial navigation but also in the processing of time (memories and plans), people (social world), and even abstract concepts.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination , pp. 311 - 331Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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