Before Imagination

Embodied Thought from Montaigne to Rousseau

By: John D. Lyons

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Hardcover | 12 August 2005

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Hardcover
304 Pages

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22.86 x 15.24 x 2.06

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Before imagination became the transcendent and creative faculty promoted by the Romantics, it was something quite different. Not reserved for a privileged few, imagination was instead considered a universal ability that each person could direct in practical ways. To imagine something meant to form in the mind a replica of a thing - its taste, its sound, and other physical attributes. At the end of the Renaissance, there was a movement to encourage individuals to develop their ability to imagine vividly. Within their private mental space, a space of embodied, sensual thought, they could meditate, pray, or philosophize. Gradually, confidence in the self-directed imagination fell out of favor and was replaced by the belief that the few - an elite of writers and teachers - should control the imagination of the many. This book seeks to understand what imagination meant in early modern Europe, particularly in early modern France, before the Romantic era gave the term its modern meaning. The author explores the themes surrounding early modern notions of imagination (including hostility to imagination) through the writings of such figures as Descartes, Montaigne, Francois de Sales, Pascal, the Marquise de Sevigne, Madame de Lafayette, and Fenelon.

Industry Reviews

"John D. Lyons's brilliant study fills a lacuna in our knowledge of early modern views of the imagination, significantly advancing inquiry in this area. Although the concept of the imagination is said to have emerged with the Enlightenment's emphasis on creativity, Lyons revises this modernist perspective, focusing on the uses of the imagination from Montaigne to Rousseau." - Renaissance Quarterly

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Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
The Return of Stoic Imagination	p. 32
Self-Cultivation and Religious Meditation	p. 61
Picturing Ourselves in the World: Pascal's Pensees	p. 94
The Imagination of Loss	p. 122
From Imagination to Significance: The Novel from Scudery to Lafayette	p. 148
How the Ancients Modernized Imagination	p. 179
Conclusion	p. 206
Notes	p. 209
Bibliography	p. 257
Index	p. 279
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Before Imagination

Embodied Thought from Montaigne to Rousseau

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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