Images of Imagination

The literature of music, religion, and philosophy, especially aesthetics, forms the basis from which a definition for imagination is offered: Imagination is a power of the whole of human consciousness that employs intuition, perception, thinking, and feeling. A definition for each of the four facets is suggested and explored. These facets are then combined in various ways leading to the tentative formulation of three types of imagination with the third type comprised of two subtypes. A developmental sequence is implied based on research in aesthetic and cognitive developmental theory. Suggestions for the cultivation of imagination through music are offered along with implications for further research.