Aesthetics of Imagery. The Quixotic Dilemma
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12697/spe.2026.19.1.06Keywords:
aesthetic values, aesthetics, mental imagery, sensory imagination, the Quixotic DilemmaAbstract
I examine whether imagery has aesthetic value. In trying to answer this question, we face the Quixotic Dilemma, which claims that both possible answers are false. I suggest that this question may therefore be undecidable. A solution may involve rejecting the idea that sensory imagination must be defined in experiential terms. Instead, adopting a content-based theory of mental imagery might clarify the similarities and differences between perception and imagery, ultimately resolving the Quixotic Dilemma.
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