Reasoning, Imagining, and Creating

Abstract

Students of deductive reasoning often argue that people are not very good at it because they are too imaginative: they introduce extraneous premises and fail to stick to the logical task (see e.g. Henle, 1962). Students of creativity, however, often argue that people are not very good at generating new ideas because they are too logical: their thoughts run only along well-worn rational tracks. In the best tradition of British compromise, I want to say: a plague on both your houses. Reasoning is an imaginative process.