WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU SEE - A CONTRIBUTION TO AN EPISTEMOLOGY OF IMAGINATION

How may mental activity be conceptualized within the context of the ep istemology engendered by cybernetics, and how may that epistemology ac count for imagination? I argue for an epistemology of imagination that both distinguishes imagination, understanding and interpretation, and unites all three concepts in a dialogical circle of ideas. The proces ses of distinguishing these concepts (and the processes that give rise to and describe mental activities) are dialogical processes. As dialo gical, they fall within the scope of Heinz von Foerster's work on seco nd-order cybernetics.