ABSTRACT
Can humans imagine? Here the answer seems obviously “yes.” Can nonhuman animals imagine? Here the answer seems considerably less obvious. It matters not only which nonhuman animals (hereafter, ‘animals’) we’re talking about, but also what we mean by imagination. This essay addresses this question by exploring psychological studies within a philosophical context. In this essay, “imagination requires that an organism has an idea which it seeks to examine
in its actions or mind” (Mitchell 2002, 4; see also Strawson 1970, 54; Bogdan 2005). Imagination is thus an exploration of mental states or action; this exploration can occur as mental states happen (e.g., daydreaming) or while engaging in actions (e.g., pretending, thinking). In this essay, I explore animals’ capacity for imagination along three dimensions: having mental images, seeing (or otherwise perceiving) something as something else or otherwise pretending, and being creative (see, e.g., Strawson 1970).
