How did R.G. Collingwood explain the role of imagination in historical understanding?

R.G. Collingwood argued that historical understanding is fundamentally different from the methods of natural science, rejecting the idea that historical events can be explained by universal laws or regularities. Instead, he proposed that the historian’s task is to explain events by identifying them as expressions of the thoughts of past, self-conscious, and purposive agents.1

To achieve this, Collingwood maintained that the historian must use imagination to perform an "imaginative reconstruction" or "re-enactment" of these past mental processes within their own mind. By rethinking the past through the context of their own experience, the historian can discover the significant patterns and dynamics of cultures and civilizations. This process of re-enactment is not merely a heuristic or empathetic exercise but a logical requirement for rendering the actions of historical figures intelligible, as it allows the historian to view those actions as appropriate within the specific beliefs, aims, and principles held by the agents themselves.21