A Research On Russell’s Thoughts Of Imagination And Its Contemporary Value

In epistemology,philosophy of mind and philosophy of science,questions about imagination are important.Only by clarifying these questions,we can have a better understanding of human cognitive abilities,the mind,and answer questions about creativity in scientific discovery.A necessary premise to clarify problems about imagination is to have a good grasp and understanding of the imagination thoughts of predecessors in the history of philosophy.On related issues,different scholars have analyzed the thoughts of imagination of philosophers such as Descartes,Hume,and Kant.However,the analysis of Russell’s thoughts of imagination is still slightly insufficient.Therefore,it is necessary to analyze Russell’s thoughts.Firstly,by examining the theoretical bases of Russell’s thoughts of imagination,it can be found that there are four aspects of basis,which are perspective basis,standpoint basis,conceptual basis and basis of science.Secondly,through the inspection and analysis of the content of Russell’s thoughts of imagination,we know that Russell believes that the essence of imagination is "the absence of belief together with a novel combination of known elements".Then,we analyze Russell’s thoughts on the occurrence stage,processing stage and utility of imagination;point out the characteristics of imagination put forward by Russell,and compare Russell’s views on different mental occurrences such as imagination and sensation and memory.By these analysis and investigation,we not only point out the significance and inadequacy of Russell’s thoughts of imagination,but also its contemporary value.