Imagination as mind-space for an internal dialogue

The article aims at elaborating on the problem of imagery character of internal dialogues described by Hermans’ dialogical self theory. The role of visual imagery and propositional judgments in dialogues with the mental replica of another person is discussed with reference to the classic debate concerning the nature of mental imagery. Nowak’s model of information processing, exemplifying a solution for the classic contradiction between the analogue and propositional approaches, is proposed to consider cognitive processes involved in internal dialogical activity. According to this model, one can hypothesize that the spatial system is responsible for anticipating the interlocutor’s subjective states and responses adequate to them. The judgment system is necessary to formulate concrete statements belonging to I-positions involved in a dialogical exchange. Since the dialogical self theory allows advancing a hypothesis that a multitude of I-positions lead in consequence to a multitude of imageries belonging to them, the paper concludes that Hermans’ conception both profits from the theories of imagery and gives contribution to their further development.

Wacław Bąk