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Einbildungskraft (imagination) is a multifaceted mental faculty in Goethe’s theoretical writings and poetic works that is non-systematic and rich in aporias. At work in both cognitive processes and artistic production, it becomes a defining concept in Goethe’s creative understanding of natural and aesthetic processes. Einbildungskraft serves as a faculty that presides over nature, the human mind, and the arts as a source of interdisciplinary knowledge. As a pre-noetic power, moreover, it also manifests the poietic force of language. By creatively expanding the Kantian distinction between the productive and reproductive imagination, Goethe theorizes a third kind of Einbildungskraft at work in poetic language with an internal law (Gesetzlichkeit) that “circumspectively surveys” the inner and outer worlds. As a kind of analogical thinking, this “umsichtige Einbildungskraft” (surveying imagination) participates in cognitive processes by actively elaborating thought, affect, vision, and memory. And as an artistic power, it mirrors in metaphorical language the organic forces of nature, which share the same principles of human life: synthesis, expansion, and transformation. According to Goethe, Einbildungskraft is the faculty responsible for shaping perceptual inputs, affects, memories, and mental images into artistic and verbal forms, thereby reconfiguring all the fragmented pieces of existence into an organic system that represents reality in its ontological essence.

Recent theories within the avenue of the bio-cultural turn, and particularly about embodied cognition are forecasted in the anthropological, philosophical, physiological and scientific debate of the late 18th century in Germany. Philosopher and theologian Johann Gottfried Herder contributed to this discourse sigificantly, opening up new perspectives on the link among thought and language and body. In this paper we aim at highlighting some core issues of Herders’s discourse about knowledge, perception and cognition, that seem to anticipate some of the most recent 4E Cognition issues.

During the 18th century, debates about what constituted the sublime flourished in Europe, and particularly in Germany. These debates were nourished by two different visions: The Kantian concept supposed that the sublime is supra-sensible and rooted in reason (Logos) rather than in the object, thus provoking a mental state of tension between nature and art; Edmund Burke's concept, on the other hand, conceived of the sublime as a bodily immersive experience, which we here define as "sensitive" sublime. In summary, Burke's view of the sublime is rooted in the senses and not in the power of reason, unlike Kant's. This was to disrupt the mainstream ideas of that time, unconsciously anticipating some of the recent neuroaesthetic acquisitions regarding the central role played by the sensory apparatus in the experience of beauty and of the sublime.

espanolEste articulo revisita la hermeneutica de la sospecha de Paul Ricœur considerandola un acto de interpretacion inquisitivo basado en la intersubjetividad y destinado a desvelar significados ocultos y latentes del texto literario. En nuestra opinion, el marco teorico de Ricœur es relevante para los estudios neurocognitivos actuales aplicados a la literatura en cuanto a las cuestiones de encarnacion (embodiment), simulacion corporal e interpretacion de significados textuales latentes y ocultos tras los evidentes. La practica de la sospecha de Ricœur supone uno de los dos polos de nuestra investigacion actual del texto literario, siendo el segundo la aproximacion neurohermeneutica. Desde la perspectiva de lo que aqui definimos como la neurohermeneutica de la sospecha, el lector se convierte en interprete y cuestiona el texto y los distintos niveles de sus rasgos superficiales cuando advierte claves inferenciales destacadas que desvelan significados secundarios. El proceso de construccion del significado depende de un acto creativo acaecido en la imaginacion del lector, que encarna la (re-)construccion mental de la situacion descrita en el texto. Por tanto, la interpretacion de la sospecha no se apoya en el texto, el autor, el lector o el contexto cultural o cognitivo, sino en una relacion compleja y dinamica que pivota alrededor de las facultades encarnadas comunes a todo ser humano. Proponemos que Ricœur, especialmente en las derivas postcriticas de la actualidad, puede resultar de gran ayuda para redefinir el placer de descifrar los mundos ficticios de la literatura en tanto que pone a prueba al lector para “jugar” con el texto literario, concebido como una terra incognita de multiples e inagotables significados. EnglishIn this paper we draw back to Ricœur’s hermeneutics of suspicion, considered as an act of mistrustful interpretation based on intersubjectivity and aiming at disclosing latent and hidden meanings in the literary text. In our opinion Ricœur’s theoretical frame is relevant for present-day neurocognitive studies about literature, with regard to the issues of embodiment, bodily simulation and interpretation of textual latent meanings hidden beyond the manifest ones. Ricœur’s practice of suspicion is one of the two poles of our present inquiry about literary text, while the second is our neurohermeneutic approach. In the perspective of what we here define as neurohermeneutics of suspicion, the reader becomes an interpreter, questioning the text with regard to its multilayered surface features as marking inferential clues unveiling secondary meanings. The meaning-making process depends on a creative act of the reader’s imagination embodying the mental (re)construction of the situation described by a text. Therefore, suspicious interpreting does not rely in either the text, the author, the reader or the cultural and cognitive context, but in their complex and dynamic relationship, pivoting around the common embodied faculties of being a human. We claim that particularly in the postcritical venture, Ricœur’s hermeneutics, may be helpful in refiguring the pleasure of deciphering the fictional worlds of literature, challenging the reader to “play” with the literary text intended as a terra incognita of inexhaustible multiple meanings. francaisDans cet article on revient sur l’hermeneutique de la suspicion de Paul Ricœur en l’envisageant comme un acte d’interpretation base sur l’intersubjectivite et destine a devoiler des significations cachees et latentes du texte litteraire. A notre avis, le cadre theorique de Ricœur est marquant pour les etudes neurocognitives actuelles appliquees a la litterature en ce qui concerne les questions d’incarnation (embodiment), simulation corporelle et interpretation des significations textuelles latentes et cachees derriere celles qui sont evidentes. La pratique de la suspicion de Ricœur suppose l’un des poles de notre recherche actuelle du texte litteraire, l’autre etant l’approche neurohermeneutique. Dans la perspective de ce qui est ici defini comme la neurohermeneutique de la suspicion, le lecteur devient un interprete et questionne le texte et les differents niveaux de ses traits superficiels quand il remarque des cles inferentielles saillantes devoilant des significations secondaires. Le processus de construction de la signification depend d’un acte creatif advenu dans l’imagination du lecteur, qui incarne la (re)construction mentale de la situation decrite dans le texte. Par consequent, l’interpretation de la suspicion ne repose pas sur le texte, l’auteur, le lecteur ou le contexte culturel ou cognitif, mais sur un rapport complexe et dynamique pivotant autour des facultes incarnees communes a tout etre humain. Nous proposons que Ricœur, particulierement dans les derives postcritiques actuelles, peut etre d’un grand secours pour redefinir le plaisir de dechiffrer les mondes fictionnels de la litterature dans la mesure ou il met a l’epreuve le lecteur pour « jouer » avec le texte, envisage comme une terra incognita de significations multiples et inepuisables.

Ekphrasis is a text genre based on the intertwining of visual and verbal features, involving the processes of both reading, and priming a visual image or a related action. We argue in this study that this genre, which has been object of many disputes and critical claims over the times, is a powerful tool in order to stimulate a particularly intense activation of the reader/listener’s emotions and imagination. This because of the double nature of the inputs triggering more powerfully the embodied simulation by mixing the regime of perception, affection and thought. Ekphrasis is characterized by a “paradoxical nature”, i.e. the fact that the fictional visible qualities of the described artwork disavow the process of visualization by facing the reader/listener with the need of “creating” his own images, by activating a kind of “guided imagination act”. The intertwining of codes determines also a substitution of the description by actions, as described by ancient rhetoricians. The description of actions solicits more powerfully the embodied simulation of the reader/listener. This creates an “in-between” space where what was unthinkable becomes thinkable. Since the afforded cognitive process is overwhelming for the reader/listener, he/she is driven to overcome his/her own cognitive limitations thanks to processes of the imagination that “fills in the gaps” between the known and unknown. We argue that in modern times, starting with Romantics, this process is particularly amplified and ekphrasis becomes a metacritical commentary about the act of imagining, since it induces the reader to complete the description by simulating a personal experience triggered by the rhetorical “vividness” of ekphrasis. This hypothesis will be elucidated by investigating as case-study an ekphrastic text by German author Heinrich von Kleist, who wrote about the revolutionary painting The Monk at the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich. In Kleist’s text Feelings about a Seascape by Friedrich (Empfindungen vor Friedrichs Seelandschaft, 1810), the author does not describe or represent the painting, according to the traditional ekphrastic praxis, but the aesthetic, perceptive, emotional and imaginative experience of seeing the picture, i.e. the dynamical affective processes engaged by the reader/observer in front of the painting, which in Friedrich’s intention represents “the act of seeing itself”. This act involves a strong embodied simulation which finally amplifies the process of the imagination of the reader, whom is guided to bodily experience the imagined sublime space of the picture.

Summary Objective While it is widely accepted that inhaled glucocorticosteroids represent an effective treatment for allergic rhinitis, little is known on the specific effects of this therapeutic approach in other upper airway disorders of childhood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the improvement of clinical symptoms and changes in local cellular inflammatory reaction induced by budesonide inhalation suspension in children with recurrent nasal infections using budesonide inhalation suspension delivered by Rinowash ® a nebulizer designed to treat upper airway structures. Methods In a randomized, controlled-open study, 14 children (5.88 ± 0.56 years of age) with recurrent upper airway infections and chronic nasal obstruction were enrolled and randomly treated for 7–10 days either with budesonide inhalation suspension (250 microg/bidie) (nine patients) or with saline solution (five patients). Before and after treatment, inflammatory cells in nasal brushing and nasal symptom score were evaluated. Results Out of the nine patients treated with budesonide, two were excluded from the analysis because of acute respiratory infections requiring systemic antibiotic treatment. A significant decrease in nasal brushing neutrophil percentage was observed after treatment with budesonide ( P = 0.016) but not after saline solution treatment ( P = 1.00). No significant changes in nasal brushing mononuclear cell or eosinophil proportions were observed after treatment with budesonide inhalation suspension or saline solution ( P = NS, each comparison). Treatment with budesonide, but not with saline solution, was associated with a significant reduction in nasal obstruction ( P = 0.016). Conclusions These preliminary data indicate that short-term treatment with budesonide inhalation suspension, used for an indication out of label, may significantly reduce local neutrophilic inflammation and nasal obstruction in children with recurrent upper airway infections.

Several longitudinal studies report that allergic sensitization increases with age from childhood to adulthood.To evaluate whether an age-dependent tendency to become sensitized to new classes of allergens is present in atopic children, we studied retrospectively the changes in allergic sensitization in 165 asthmatic patients, monosensitized (ie, sensitized to only one class of allergens) in the first survey.All the children (18 months to 8 years at enrollment), attended our outpatient clinics twice, at time intervals ranging from 2 to 10 years. On each visit, sensitization to house dust mites, pollens, animal danders, and molds was determined by skin prick test.We found that 43.6% (n = 72) of the patients became polysensitized on the second survey. According to age on first survey, the patients were further divided into two age groups: (1) group 1 = 18 months to5 years old (n = 98) and (2) group 2 = 5 to 8 years (n = 67). The transition from monosensitization to polysensitization observed in the entire population was present in both groups: 47 (47.9%) of the 98 children in group 1 and 25 (37.3%) of the 67 children in group 2 showed to be sensitized to more classes of allergens, as compared with first survey. Both in the whole population and in the two age subgroups, the changes in the frequency of monosensitization between the two evaluations were time-dependent (P.05, each Chi(2)). Finally, to investigate whether monosensitization to a specific class of allergens could favor the development of polysensitization, we evaluated the frequency of polysensitization in the second survey in patients originally monosensitized to house dust mites or to pollens. We found that of the 130 patients originally monosensitized to house dust mites, 59 became polysensitized (45.4%), while of the 28 patients originally monosensitized to pollens, 9 became polysensitized (32.1%) (P. 1). Similar results were obtained when patients were divided into age groups.These data demonstrate that (1) monosensitized children are likely to become polysensitized and (2) house dust mite sensitization and, at a lower degree, pollen sensitization, apparently seem to play a "triggering" role in the development of polysensitization, since a high proportion of children originally monosensitized to house dust mites or to pollens became polysensitized.

While it is widely accepted that inhaled glucocorticosteroids represent an effective treatment for allergic rhinitis, little is known on the specific effects of this therapeutic approach in other upper airway disorders of childhood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the improvement of clinical symptoms and changes in local cellular inflammatory reaction induced by budesonide inhalation suspension in children with recurrent nasal infections using budesonide inhalation suspension delivered by Rinowash, a nebulizer designed to treat upper airway structures.In a randomized, controlled-open study, 14 children (5.88+/-0.56 years of age) with recurrent upper airway infections and chronic nasal obstruction were enrolled and randomly treated for 7-10 days either with budesonide inhalation suspension (250 microg/bidie) (nine patients) or with saline solution (five patients). Before and after treatment, inflammatory cells in nasal brushing and nasal symptom score were evaluated.Out of the nine patients treated with budesonide, two were excluded from the analysis because of acute respiratory infections requiring systemic antibiotic treatment. A significant decrease in nasal brushing neutrophil percentage was observed after treatment with budesonide (P=0.016) but not after saline solution treatment (P=1.00). No significant changes in nasal brushing mononuclear cell or eosinophil proportions were observed after treatment with budesonide inhalation suspension or saline solution (P=NS, each comparison). Treatment with budesonide, but not with saline solution, was associated with a significant reduction in nasal obstruction (P=0.016).These preliminary data indicate that short-term treatment with budesonide inhalation suspension, used for an indication out of label, may significantly reduce local neutrophilic inflammation and nasal obstruction in children with recurrent upper airway infections.

A partire dall'enigmatica figura di Odradek, personaggio del racconto di Franz Kafka "Il cruccio del padre di famiglia", il saggio analizza quegli aspetti della scrittura di Kafka, caso noto di Doppelbegabung, che convergono con i metodi e le significazioni delle arti figurative.