Filling an important gap in post-Kantian philosophy, Hegel's Theory of Imagination focuses on the role of the imagination, and resolves the question of its apparent absence in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit . Jennifer Ann Bates discusses Hegel's theory of the imagination through the early and late Philosophy of Spirit lectures, and reveals that a dialectic between the two sides of the imagination (the and "night and " of inwardizing consciousness and the and "light and " of externalizing material) is essential to thought and community. The complexity and depth of Hegel's insights make this book essential reading for anyone seriously interested in understanding how central the imagination is to our every thought.