TY - JOUR
AU - Maria Pazos
AB - Abstract This article examines how the void in the Japanese garden of Ryōan-ji functions as an active affordance that expands imagination, challenging enactive theories that prioritize tangible presence. By integrating phenomenological analysis (Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty) with an enactive approach (Rucińska, McClelland), it argues that the void, far from a mere absence, fosters mental projection and reveals a dialectic between presence and absence. Ryōan-ji, with its minimalist design, demonstrates how structured absence enhances creativity, suggesting that imagination transcends the observable to inhabit the possible.
BT - International Journal of Social Imaginaries
DA - 01/2026
DO - 10.1163/27727866-bja00071
DP - DOI.org (Crossref)
IS - 1
N2 - Abstract This article examines how the void in the Japanese garden of Ryōan-ji functions as an active affordance that expands imagination, challenging enactive theories that prioritize tangible presence. By integrating phenomenological analysis (Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty) with an enactive approach (Rucińska, McClelland), it argues that the void, far from a mere absence, fosters mental projection and reveals a dialectic between presence and absence. Ryōan-ji, with its minimalist design, demonstrates how structured absence enhances creativity, suggesting that imagination transcends the observable to inhabit the possible.
PY - 2026
SN - 2772-7866
SP - 23
EP - 40
ST - Imaginative Affordances
T2 - International Journal of Social Imaginaries
TI - Imaginative Affordances: Is the Environment Essential for Imagination?: Reflections from the Ryōan-ji Rock Garden
UR - https://brill.com/view/journals/ijsi/5/1/article-p23_3.xml
VL - 5
Y2 - 2026/07/17/13:00:15
ER -