In my last post I explored and considered how imagination is used as a way of knowing in Mathematics and whether or not Mathematics could be considered as the area of knowledge with the least reliance on imagination. However I think it’s valuable to be able to argue different perspectives on this question. By exploring a different answer to the same question, I can expand my knowledge on how imagination is important as a way of knowing and also on different areas of knowledge. Another approach I can take on this question is by looking at the area of knowledge of History.
To what extent does History rely or not rely on imagination as a way of knowing? We must consider the type of material and activities that are covered in this area of knowledge in order to begin answering this question. According to TheoryOfKnowledge.net, “1 the study of past events. 2 the past considered as a whole. 3 the past events connected with someone or something. 4 a continuous record of past events or trends.”. This brings up an interesting question for me, which is: Do all past events have to be known in order to be studied? What I mean by this is that if half of a past situation is known, and the other half is inferred through other knowledge, is it just as valuable to study both halves or should we only study the events that are 100% confirmed to be real This is where the role of imagination comes into play. It could be said that since History is about studying past events, if these events are not considered one hundred percent fact then they aren’t really past events. However a lot of history is inferred. Take for example ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia. A limited amount of knowledge is known about the daily life of a Mesopotamian, yet in my grade eight classes, we did various activities surrounding what we could infer about this. We had to use our imaginations in order to fill in blank spots and further our understanding of the topic. So from this perspective imagination is an essential way of knowing to be able to study history. I think that imagination would connect the most with 3. on the list from TheoryOfKnowledge.net: the past events connected with someone or something. Imagination can be used to connect personally and in a more detailed way to the big picture topics being discussed like in number 1, 2 and 4. Another situation in which imagination can be used in history is in critical thinking scenarios in which past events are used to infer what might happen in the future. Imagination would be used to create these future events in the brain even though they are not tangible to the senses.
Similarly to my last blog post, two perspectives can be argued to my question. I feel that this shows depth and more opportunity to explore. Through the research I did on this question I realized that this argument can be made for any area of knowledge by using different perspectives.
Canada in WWI 