PL 518 Philosophy of Imagination (Fall: 3)
Readings in the philosophy of imagination from ancient myth to post-modernity.
Beginning with Biblical and Greek accounts of images and image-making, this
course will explore three main paradigm shifts in the western history of
imagination: (1) the ancient paradigm of the Mirror (Plato to Augustine);
(2) the modern paradigm of the Lamp (Kant to Sartre); (3) the postmodern
paradigm of the circular Looking Glass (Lacan to Derrida). The course will
conclude with a critical evaluation of the political and ethical functions
of imagination in our contemporary civilization of cyber fantasy, simulation
and spectacle.
Richard M. Kearney
Last Updated: 09-JAN-08