Giambattista Vico and the cognitive science enterprise

Perhaps the oldest and most intriguing conundrum of all is the question: What is the mind? In the last decade an interdisciplinary approach, known as cognitive science, has emerged to study the mind with the ideas and methods forged by artificial intelligence researchers. The aim of this book is to suggest ways in which the cognitive science agenda can be shaped more meaningfully according to a view of mind proposed by Giambattista Vico two and a half centuries ago. This view is grounded on the products of imagination. By studying myths, poetry, narrations, etc., the cognitive scientist will discover the creative force behind them.