Amy Kind
@amylkind.bsky.social
Philosopher, Claremont McKenna College
Avshalom Schwartz explores the philosophical insights that can be gained by taking a philological route to the study of the origins of imagination.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Avshalom Schwartz junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/2/...
The Discovery of Imagination — The Junkyard
A post by Avshalom Schwartz The safest general characterization of the history of imagination is that it begins with Plato. Indeed, this is a rare point of agreement between scholars—from int...
junkyardofthemind.com
February 18, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Avshalom Schwartz explores the philosophical insights that can be gained by taking a philological route to the study of the origins of imagination.
In a post written while watching the Superbowl, Neil Van Leeuwen explores why we are considerably more inclined to rewatch movies and other fictions than we are to rewatch sports.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Neil Van Leeuwen junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/2/...
Why do we rewatch fictions—but not sports? — The Junkyard
A post by Neil Van Leeuwen In the background as I write this blog, the Superbowl is on. The Seahawks currently lead 6-0 in the second quarter, which makes me vaguely happy, since I dislike the Patrio...
junkyardofthemind.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:49 PM
In a post written while watching the Superbowl, Neil Van Leeuwen explores why we are considerably more inclined to rewatch movies and other fictions than we are to rewatch sports.
Hannah Fasnacht builds on others’ work on anticipatory grief to show that we can also grieve the impossible, i.e., we can have grief directed not at an actual person or object or something in the past, but rather at an imagined (im-)possible future that will never come to be.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Hannah Fasnacht junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/2/...
Grieving Imagined Futures — The Junkyard
A post by Hannah Fasnacht «Wie geht’s?» fragte die Trauer die Hoffnung. «Ich bin etwas traurig», sagte die Hoffnung. «Hoffentlich», sagte die Trauer. —Franz Hohler “How are you?” Sadness asked ...
junkyardofthemind.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Hannah Fasnacht builds on others’ work on anticipatory grief to show that we can also grieve the impossible, i.e., we can have grief directed not at an actual person or object or something in the past, but rather at an imagined (im-)possible future that will never come to be.
Irene Lonigro, at The Junkyard, on whether we can imagine emotions that we haven't experienced before.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Irene Lonigro junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/1/...
Can We Imagine New Emotions? — The Junkyard
A post by Irene Lonigro According to a venerable philosophical tradition, imagination builds upon experiences we have already had (Nagel, 1974; Paul, 2014). I cannot imagine what it feels like to tas...
junkyardofthemind.com
January 21, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Irene Lonigro, at The Junkyard, on whether we can imagine emotions that we haven't experienced before.
In the first post of 2026 at The Junkyard, Reza Hadisi explores Suhrawardī's views concerning the constitutive norm of imagination.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Reza Hadisi junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/1/...
The world of image — The Junkyard
A post by Reza Hadisi In one of his commentaries, al‑Shahrazūrī (d. ca. 1288) cites and elaborates on an enigmatic passage from Suhrawardī (d. 1191), the founder of the Ishrāqī philosophical movement...
junkyardofthemind.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:34 PM
In the first post of 2026 at The Junkyard, Reza Hadisi explores Suhrawardī's views concerning the constitutive norm of imagination.
How big is a trillion? Grasping really big numbers is hard, but this week at The Junkyard Ansley Avis discusses how we can use imagination "to make these numbers more meaningful and clear for ourselves and others."
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Ansley Avis junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/12...
Imagination, Autonomy, and Really Big Numbers — The Junkyard
A post by Ansley Avis “It’s one banana, Michael, what could it cost, $10?” -Lucille Bluth , Arrested Development Imagine an elephant. Got it? Perfect. How many toenails does it have? Your ele...
junkyardofthemind.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:06 PM
How big is a trillion? Grasping really big numbers is hard, but this week at The Junkyard Ansley Avis discusses how we can use imagination "to make these numbers more meaningful and clear for ourselves and others."
Dorothy Wade discusses her research into facets of the imagination that emerge in altered states of consciousness, research that she hopes will lead to new therapies for patients with delirium and thereby help them to cope "with the disturbing experience of the imagination going wild."
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Dorothy Wade junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/12...
Delirium, the imagination and altered states — The Junkyard
A post by Dorothy Wade In my work as an intensive care psychologist, I frequently hear from patients about the vivid and frightening experiences they undergo. Bombarded by hallucinations and delusion...
junkyardofthemind.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Dorothy Wade discusses her research into facets of the imagination that emerge in altered states of consciousness, research that she hopes will lead to new therapies for patients with delirium and thereby help them to cope "with the disturbing experience of the imagination going wild."
In this week's post at The Junkyard, Joshua Myers and Johannes Mahr argue that episodic construction is fundamentally compositional in nature, and they offer reasons that their Episodic Compositionality view is more plausible than an associationist alternative.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Joshua Myers and Johannes Mahr junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/11...
Episodic Construction: Compositional or Associative? — The Junkyard
A post by Joshua Myers and Johannes Mahr. Imagination and episodic memory are intimately linked. Imagination draws on previous experience—when picturing yourself on a beach in Portugal sipping mango ...
junkyardofthemind.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:21 PM
In this week's post at The Junkyard, Joshua Myers and Johannes Mahr argue that episodic construction is fundamentally compositional in nature, and they offer reasons that their Episodic Compositionality view is more plausible than an associationist alternative.
In this week's Junkyard post, Eric Peterson explores the connection between imagination and interpersonal knowledge; in doing so, he offers reasons to think that imagination might indeed have a unique epistemic end (contra some claims by Nick Wiltsher in a previous post on the blog).
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Eric Peterson junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/11...
A Unique Epistemic Value for Imagination? — The Junkyard
A post by Eric Peterson In a recent post on this wonderful blog, Nick Wiltsher discusses three interrelated claims of which he is increasingly sympathetic towards. These are: (1) Imagination...
junkyardofthemind.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:11 PM
In this week's Junkyard post, Eric Peterson explores the connection between imagination and interpersonal knowledge; in doing so, he offers reasons to think that imagination might indeed have a unique epistemic end (contra some claims by Nick Wiltsher in a previous post on the blog).
Reposted by Amy Kind
Happy World Philosophy Day! The current presidents and past presidents of the APA Divisions will match up to $3,000 in donations that the APA receives today, November 20. Double your impact with a gift to the APA. Donate now: apaonline.org/donate
November 20, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Happy World Philosophy Day! The current presidents and past presidents of the APA Divisions will match up to $3,000 in donations that the APA receives today, November 20. Double your impact with a gift to the APA. Donate now: apaonline.org/donate
Reposted by Amy Kind
Ready to start thinking about summer? ☀️
Issues in Philosophy of Memory 5 is headed to Purdue
June 10-12, 2026
Keynote lineup is 🔥🔥🔥. Come join us!
Call for papers is live. 750 word abstracts, on any philosophical topic related to memory. Submit by Dec 20th!
Issues in Philosophy of Memory 5 is headed to Purdue
June 10-12, 2026
Keynote lineup is 🔥🔥🔥. Come join us!
Call for papers is live. 750 word abstracts, on any philosophical topic related to memory. Submit by Dec 20th!
November 19, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Ready to start thinking about summer? ☀️
Issues in Philosophy of Memory 5 is headed to Purdue
June 10-12, 2026
Keynote lineup is 🔥🔥🔥. Come join us!
Call for papers is live. 750 word abstracts, on any philosophical topic related to memory. Submit by Dec 20th!
Issues in Philosophy of Memory 5 is headed to Purdue
June 10-12, 2026
Keynote lineup is 🔥🔥🔥. Come join us!
Call for papers is live. 750 word abstracts, on any philosophical topic related to memory. Submit by Dec 20th!
Raquel Krempel discusses her work aiming to better understand aphantasic experience. This draws on studies she conducted (w/ collaborators) that compared aphantasics and controls when they were asked to describe their experiences trying to imagine and trying to remember something.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Raquel Krempel junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/11...
What is it like to have aphantasia? — The Junkyard
A post by Raquel Krempel Imagine an apple. Nothing happened? You probably have aphantasia. This is a common way of introducing and thinking about aphantasia. On the web, images such as Figure 1 (bel...
junkyardofthemind.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Raquel Krempel discusses her work aiming to better understand aphantasic experience. This draws on studies she conducted (w/ collaborators) that compared aphantasics and controls when they were asked to describe their experiences trying to imagine and trying to remember something.
In this week's Junkyard post, Julia Minarik offers reasons to think that "machine-made images have less content than images created by human hands."
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Julia Minarik junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/11...
The Text-Conditioned Image — The Junkyard
A post by Julia Minarik And someday there will be a more complete machine. One’s thoughts or feelings during life – or while the machine is recording – will be like an alphabet with which the image ...
junkyardofthemind.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
In this week's Junkyard post, Julia Minarik offers reasons to think that "machine-made images have less content than images created by human hands."
In this week's Junkyard post, Jianghao Liu attempts to bridge empirical neuroscience and philosophical accounts of imagination and awareness by defending what he calls *the attention model* of aphantasia.
This week at the Junkyard: A post by Jianghao Liu junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/11...
Are we aware of neural activity in imagination? The attention model of conscious imagery and aphantasia — The Junkyard
A post by Jianghao Liu Please imagine a red Gala apple. Is it darker or lighter than a cherry? Most of us can easily conjure a mental image, a perceptual-like experience that feels almost as if we we...
junkyardofthemind.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
In this week's Junkyard post, Jianghao Liu attempts to bridge empirical neuroscience and philosophical accounts of imagination and awareness by defending what he calls *the attention model* of aphantasia.
This week at The Junkyard, Maria Fedorova explores the nature of psychedelic visions and argues that they are immersive mental simulations. "quasi-perceptual in terms of their phenomenology and imaginative with respect to their cognitive origin."
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Maria Fedorova junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/10...
Psychedelic visions are immersive mental simulations — The Junkyard
A post by Maria Fedorova In a series of interviews conducted by T. C. Swift and his colleagues on psilocybin (the psychoactive compound in “magic” mushrooms) experiences of cancer patients suffering ...
junkyardofthemind.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:57 PM
This week at The Junkyard, Maria Fedorova explores the nature of psychedelic visions and argues that they are immersive mental simulations. "quasi-perceptual in terms of their phenomenology and imaginative with respect to their cognitive origin."
This week at The Junkyard, Luke Roelofs asks: What exactly do we do when we leave something to the imagination? And what is the “imagination” that things are being left to?
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Luke Roelofs junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/10...
Leaving It to the Imagination — The Junkyard
A post by Luke Roelofs There’s a common idea that sometimes the best aesthetic choice is to “leave something to the imagination”, where that primarily means not presenting it explicitly. Sometimes...
junkyardofthemind.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:11 PM
This week at The Junkyard, Luke Roelofs asks: What exactly do we do when we leave something to the imagination? And what is the “imagination” that things are being left to?
Sheila Pontis on how to harness the power of imagination to improve emotional well-being.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Sheila Pontis junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/10...
How to boost imagination and emotional well-being through an integrated approach — The Junkyard
A post by Sheila Pontis The pace of global change has only grown in recent years, spiraling uncertainty about the present and future. Discouraging news reported daily increases feelings of anxiety, ...
junkyardofthemind.com
October 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Sheila Pontis on how to harness the power of imagination to improve emotional well-being.
In this week's post at The Junkyard, Edvard Aviles-Meza argues that imaginative experience plays an important role in determining whether phenomenal consciousness overflows attention.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Edvard Aviles-Meza junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/10...
Imaginative Jailbreak and Phenomenal Overflow — The Junkyard
A post by Edvard Aviles-Meza Have a look at Raphael’s School of Athens (figure 1 below). During a quick glance, do you see each of the individuals depicted? Surely, you wouldn’t recognize them at...
junkyardofthemind.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:42 PM
In this week's post at The Junkyard, Edvard Aviles-Meza argues that imaginative experience plays an important role in determining whether phenomenal consciousness overflows attention.
Noting the diversity of strategies that we use in empathizing with others, Sarah Vernallis argues that the roles of imagination in empathy are more varied than the standard story allows.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Sarah Vernallis junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/9/...
Imaginative Choices in Empathy — The Junkyard
A post by Sarah Vernallis Empathy is an imaginative activity. When we succeed in empathizing, we come to understand what it is like for another person. But what role, exactly, does the imagination pl...
junkyardofthemind.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Noting the diversity of strategies that we use in empathizing with others, Sarah Vernallis argues that the roles of imagination in empathy are more varied than the standard story allows.
How can we learn through play? According to Lucia Oliveri, our learning owes to imagination. In her post for The Junkyard, she presents an argument for this claim inspired by the work of Comenius and Leibniz.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Lucia Oliveri junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/9/...
Imagine Learning Through Play — The Junkyard
A post by Lucia Oliveri Imagine a world destroyed by a thirty-year-long war, the most devastating war that seventeenth-century Europe had ever seen. Imagine standing in front of a destroyed land, lik...
junkyardofthemind.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM
How can we learn through play? According to Lucia Oliveri, our learning owes to imagination. In her post for The Junkyard, she presents an argument for this claim inspired by the work of Comenius and Leibniz.
Niklas Maranca discusses his work to develop imagination games – formats that integrate perception, imagination, and reflection – towards the goal of showing how imaginative processes can be practiced, observed, and investigated in a structured yet experiential way.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Niklas Maranca junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/9/...
Touching Invisible Walls — The Junkyard
A post by Niklas Maranca Insight into the structure and approach of a practice-based PhD project on imagination This text traces a path from practice to research. It opens with three short scenes ...
junkyardofthemind.com
September 17, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Niklas Maranca discusses his work to develop imagination games – formats that integrate perception, imagination, and reflection – towards the goal of showing how imaginative processes can be practiced, observed, and investigated in a structured yet experiential way.
Seth Goldwasser reviews Melz Owusu's *Undisciplined* -- a book that calls upon the need for radical imagination as part of its argument for the abolishment of academia as an institution.
This week at The Junkyard: Seth Goldwasser reviews Melz Owusu's *Undisciplined* junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/9/...
The University in Crisis: A Review of Undisciplined: Reclaiming the Right to Imagine — The Junkyard
A post by Seth Goldwasser I never had the pleasure of meeting or speaking with Dr. Melz Owusu before his passing, which occurred after I had cited interest in reviewing his book. I’m deeply saddened ...
junkyardofthemind.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Seth Goldwasser reviews Melz Owusu's *Undisciplined* -- a book that calls upon the need for radical imagination as part of its argument for the abolishment of academia as an institution.
The Junkyard returns from its summer hiatus with a post from Mark Windsor and Jakub Stejskal on the archaeological sublime and the imaginative failure it involves.
This week at The Junkyard: A post by Mark Windsor and Jakub Stejskal junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2025/8/...
In and out of touch with the past: the archaeological sublime — The Junkyard
A post by Mark Windsor and Jakub Stejskal Many of us are inexorably drawn to material remains of humanity’s deep past: we like to read about new archaeological finds and observe them up close in sit...
junkyardofthemind.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The Junkyard returns from its summer hiatus with a post from Mark Windsor and Jakub Stejskal on the archaeological sublime and the imaginative failure it involves.
Reposted by Amy Kind
APA Pacific 2026 paper submissions are open with two new options: workshops for structured discussion of in-progress work, and lightning sessions for testing out new ideas. Colloquium and symposium options are still available as well! Submit a paper today. papers.apaonline.org
August 7, 2025 at 2:13 PM
APA Pacific 2026 paper submissions are open with two new options: workshops for structured discussion of in-progress work, and lightning sessions for testing out new ideas. Colloquium and symposium options are still available as well! Submit a paper today. papers.apaonline.org
Call for Abstracts
Workshop: Creative Imagination from Art to Science
University of Geneva, September 29–30, 2025
Organizers: Julia Langkau and Amy Kind
Workshop: Creative Imagination from Art to Science
University of Geneva, September 29–30, 2025
Organizers: Julia Langkau and Amy Kind
Creative Imagination from Art to Science
Call for Abstracts
Workshop: Creative Imagination from Art to Science
University of Geneva, September 29–30, 2025
Organizers: Julia Langkau and Amy Kind
Over the last couple of decades, ima...
philevents.org
July 15, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Call for Abstracts
Workshop: Creative Imagination from Art to Science
University of Geneva, September 29–30, 2025
Organizers: Julia Langkau and Amy Kind
Workshop: Creative Imagination from Art to Science
University of Geneva, September 29–30, 2025
Organizers: Julia Langkau and Amy Kind
