The “Lying Intellect,” Imagination, and the “Other”

Abstract

Imagination can be associated with the innocent capacity to contemplate on either non-existent or absent objects, which for some reason or another seem to be nonexistent in our immediate or actual surroundings. It enables us to escape the confines of instantaneous reality, thereby liberating us from the subjection to our immediate surroundings and transferring us to transient worlds in our minds, which are somewhat cut off from actuality. With respect to this suggested nature of the imagination, some may argue that the ultimate power of imagination lies in its ability to empower the subject with a profound sense of freedom, that is innately strong enough to break the limits of what is actual and what is real. While on a personal level, imagination gives one the ability to traverse bounds of immediate reality; on a macro/community level, imagination can be very toxic for some. This paper will look at different real and fictional literary examples, while journeying through Sartre, Husserl, Castoriadis and Ricouer’s ideas and theories of imagination, and, trying to map out the essential aspects of the needs and formations of identities of different marginal individuals/communities. Along side that, it will also try and connect the different ways of survival and perseverance that people find via imagination.