Faculty Of Imagination Research Articles

La transformación de la persona: fantasía o imaginación.

Several thinkers from different philosophical currents have pointed out that transhumanism is one of the most dangerous contemporary ideologies. After analyzing why a philosopher must pass a warning regarding this way of thinking and living, I offer some critical aspects against this interpretation of human transformation –the main promise of transhumanism–. I identify the philosophical roots of transhumanism above all in authors such as Nietzsche, Descartes, Freud and Marx. This philosophical tradition invoked by transhumanism proposes a certain interpretation of the imaginative faculty. It is there where this transformation into a cyborg fundamentally resides, whose absurd consequences I explain in the existential, scientific and socio-political sphere. I argue that the imaginative act of becoming a cyborg is morally, epistemologically and spiritually opposed to the act of authentic imagination. I offer a critique of this fantasy and argue that transhumanism is overcome through a total conversion of the imagination.

Kant’s Faculty Of Imagination And Its Epistemic Function

Kant’s Faculty Of Imagination And Its Epistemic Function

The Communicability of Pleasure and the Pleasure of Communication: the ‘Obligation’ of Aesthetic Feeling in the Critique of the Power of Judgment

Kant makes a puzzling claim in the Critique of the Power of Judgment concerning the connection between the feeling of pleasure occasioned by the appreciation of an object as beautiful and the universal communicability of this aesthetic feeling: on the one hand, he claims that this feeling is due to the free play of the faculties of imagination and understanding, and on the other hand, that it has its ground in the very communicability of this pleasure. The central argument of the present study is that it is possible to clarify the relation between the feeling of pleasure occasioned by the reflective judging of an object and the universal communicability Kant attributes to such a judging by grasping the demand for a ‘universality without concept’ claimed by a pure judgment of taste in terms of what appears to be a problematic relationship of grounding between the shareability of pure aesthetic feeling and the reflective activity of the mind. I will claim that this relationship can be rendered clearer by an explication of the ‘share’ of disinterestedness, purposiveness, and subjective universal validity claims in pure judgments of taste and brought together in the notion of a common sense (sensus communis). What thereby comes into view is an original orientation in the world that is presupposed by explicitly theoretical and practical judgments.

A Philosopher’s Fairy Tale: Dostoevskij and Kierkegaard on Imaginary Worlds

ABSTRACT The faculty of imagination plays an important but somewhat ambivalent role in the works of Fëdor Dostoevskij and Søren Kierkegaard. On the one hand, both Kierkegaard and Dostoevskij believe that it can facilitate the becoming of ethical and religious subjectivity, but they are also aware that an overly active imagination can lead to escapism which may in turn hinder ethical and religious self-development. This paper focuses specifically on the negative side of imagination, examining the stories of Frater Taciturnus from Kierkegaard’s Stages on Life’s Way and General Ivolgin from Dostoevskij’s The Idiot, both of whom construct highly elaborate personal imaginary worlds which, as this paper argues, serve as a means of escapism. The paper outlines the structure of these imaginary worlds and examines how they serve as a means of avoiding personal and moral responsibility.

Comparing the Roots of the Faculty of Imagination and Analyzing the Concepts of the Divine Names (Asma’ Allah al-Husna) in the Degrees of Human Existence from the Perspective of Ibn Arabi

This research examines and analyzes the roots of the faculty of imagination and the concepts of the Divine Names (Asma’ Allah al-Husna) in the degrees of human existence from the perspective of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi. The transformations of theological and mystical concepts, from the advent of Islam to the medieval periods, especially in the realm of Sufism, have been accompanied by depth and evolution. From the 8th century CE, Islamic mystics in both the eastern and western parts of the Islamic world solidified and developed the theoretical foundations of Sufism. In the 12th century CE, Ibn Arabi, considering the cultural and intellectual context of his time, revisited mystical teachings and, utilizing the concepts of the faculty of imagination and the Divine Names, reinterpreted ideas such as the Perfect Man (Insan Kamil) and the unity of existence in a novel way. This research demonstrates that Ibn Arabi, by blending previous mystical concepts and employing the power of imagination, restructured and expanded the language of Sufism and the meaning of the Perfect Man. He succeeded in deeply analyzing the Divine Names, interpreting the existential ranks of humans, and presenting a new understanding of humanity’s place in the cosmic order. The goal of this article is to provide a comprehensive view of the impact of the faculty of imagination and the analysis of the Divine Names on the structure of mystical anthropology and to explain the key concepts of Sufism from Ibn Arabi’s perspective.

Anonymity, Peace and Speculative Presence in Isabelle Stengers’ Cosmopolitical Thinking

How does speculative pragmatism induce new ways to think, feel, imagine and act? Take Isabelle Stengers’ cosmopolitical proposal. It involves two different concepts of peace: first, the “diplomats’ peace”, which is the always precarious, creative and technical result of contingent negotiations — a compositionist approach that relates to the political realm of representation proper. Second, the “speculative possibility of peace”, which constitutes an indispensable requisite for the cosmopolitical proposal, and which stands beyond its limits, at speculative and erotic distance, as pure process attractor. In the passage from politics to cosmopolitics, what is at stake is the very possibility of a peaceful coexistence between heterogeneous worlds, a peace whose mode of existence is nothing but propositional or virtual, a pure possibility that could as such effectively make a difference. But how can the most abstract, imperceptible and tenuous mode of existence possibly induce transformations of a political kind? How can it arouse our faculty of imagination and operate as a ‘lure for feeling’? How can it get a hold over (faire prise) and actually “infect” somebody else’s dreams? Here lies perhaps the paradox of the fundamentally anonymous experience of thought and lived abstraction that Stengers calls speculative presence, and which expresses a soulful and pragmatist understanding of (cosmo)politics.

Building blocks of imagination

In the human context, the ubiquitous faculty of imagination is taken for granted. Whether we are singularly equipped with this ability or whether it is an evolved faculty also present in other life forms is a question that has been an issue ever since Darwin. A variety of research projects have indicated the presence of mental processes in non-human taxa and the faculty of imagination developed with increasing complexity over time, to its present status in humans. As an evolved faculty, encompassing a variety of non-humans, it serves as a useful tool to ascertain and understand the origins and unique quality of human mental processes, even to the extent of informing certain medical issues and problems in education. Several pointers exist that argue for human imagination as an evolved faculty that is shared within broad spectrum of taxa. Paleoanthropological research has provided insights as to the role of imagination in the early manifestations of religious behaviour in humans, the construction of effective stone tools by anatomically modern humans employing pyro technology, as well as their ability to mentally link ostensibly non-related natural phenomena like tidal fluctuations and the phases of the moon.Contribution: This review article explores imagination as an evolved faculty in an intersectional and interdisciplinary manner. This evolutionary reflection fits well with the purpose and inclusive nature of this special collection on the building blocks of our past, present and future.

J.S. Mill on Bentham’s incomplete mind

ABSTRACT J.S. Mill argued that Bentham was ‘not a great philosopher’, asserting that one reason for his judgment was ‘the incompleteness of his [i. e. Bentham’s] own mind as a representative of universal human nature’. This paper argues that Mill’s judgment of Bentham on human nature and his assumptions about Bentham’s ‘own mind’ were seriously mistaken. In fact, Bentham understood many of the most natural and strongest feelings of human nature; he recognized spiritual or mental perfection, and recognized many pleasures associated with a desire for self-perfection, or at least self-improvement; he never denied the importance of the faculty of imagination; he was by no means cut off from life’s graver experiences; his conception of arts and sciences was much broader, more metaphysically-based, consistent and sophisticated than Mill appreciated; and he enthusiastically embraced and encouraged arts and sciences. Mill’s mistake was partly caused by his limited reading of Bentham’s works, but mainly because he failed to grasp the ontological basis and fundamental principles of Bentham’s philosophy.

Filling (Feeling) the Archival Void

The video essay “Filling (Feeling) the Archival Void” delves into the systematic erasure and archival dispossession of works by early women filmmakers, using the case study of Helena Cortesina and her lost film Flor de España (1922), which was falsely attributed to a male director. Through a counterhegemonic, provocative, “accented” approach, the video essay challenges established, patriarchal film histories and exposes the lies hidden within their seemingly rigorous discourse. First, it pays homage to the authorship of an almost forgotten filmmaker, Helena Cortesina, while also making her lost film visible, ensuring that at least some of its images are brought to light. Second, it explores the potential of the video essay as a feminist archive—a practice-based counterarchive, capable of producing counterhegemonic discourses that subvert the status quo. Third, by challenging the presumed “objectivity” of traditional film scholarship through openly poetic, subjective, and imaginative modes of expression, it establishes and validates a new epistemology.

Competitive moves in new high-tech firms: The role of board heterogeneity and family ties

Drawing on the entrepreneurial theory of the firm with dispersed knowledge, together with fundamental uncertainty, we examine what we label as heterogenous expectations through board members' imaginative faculties. Specifically, we unpack how outside board members construct heterogeneity, and how heterogenous expectations affect the level of competitive moves in new high-tech firms. We hypothesize and find that family funding positively moderates the relationship between board heterogeneity and competitive moves, although family sponsorship in the form of funding has a direct negative effect. Implications for the entrepreneurial theory of the firm and its relevance to practice are discussed.

I Can Expand My Imagination: The Secondary Students’ Narrative in Creative Writing English Through Padlet

Abstract. This study investigates the impact of Padlet, an online collaborative platform, on the creative writing and imagination of students in an Islamic private school in Pasuruan, comprising 10th and 11th grade students. This study is a qualitative approach, specifically employing narrative inquiry. Data collection methods include observations and semi-structured interviews with the students. Furthermore, data analysis involves identifying key themes and patterns from the interview data, allowing for insight into the influence of Padlet on students’ creativity and imagination. The findings of this study elucidate the potential originality inherent in utilizing Padlet as a medium for amplifying students’ imaginative faculties within the context of writing instruction. Although encountered with some obstacles, most students exhibited adeptness in surmounting these challenges. consequently, this research substantiates our comprehension of how digital tools such as Padlet can be effectively employed within educational settings to nurture creativity and cultivate superior writing proficiencies. Moreover, this investigation addresses a significant research gap concerning Padlet’s influence on imagination within writing courses. The derived insights furnish valuable guidance for teachers and educational institutions seeking to integrate analogues platforms in order to foster imaginative cogitation and self-expression, thereby fostering an enriched academic milieu. Keywords: Creative Writing, Padlet Media, Students’ Imagination, EFL Learning

Archipelagic Currents in the Global Novel

Abstract Crime fiction, a frequently translated and highly translatable literary genre, has generated perspectives on the global and the local in ways that shape cartographies of world literature. The Indonesian novel 24 Hours with Gaspar by Sabda Armandio is a case study for how specific texts within the genre can serve as points of departure for theorizing cultural geography in an imaginative mode. Analyzing Gaspar through three spatial optics, this paper considers the novel’s global influences, the elements that fall into relief as local in translation, and – by attending to patterns of movement and contact that complicate place-based perspectives – the archipelagic qualities of the text. By imagining this alternative conception of literary space, Armandio’s novel recasts the contemporary global novel as the product of contact, mobility, and linguistic and material flows rather than sites of static national or regional identity.

Age(ism) in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales

Abstract Across the globe, the genre of the fairy tale is inextricably linked with Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). To this day, the Danish writer and his sombre, often dystopian tales are famed for their pronounced criticism of socio-cultural norms and are read and loved by all ages. In his work, Andersen made ample use of the fantastic, which ranges from the realm of the supernatural (esp. anthropomorphic plants, animals, and things) to the realm of the (realistically) imaginary such as the faculty of imagination or (religious) beliefs. In doing so, socio-cultural phenomena such as conceptions of and reactions to (older) age are approached from a broad spectrum of angles. While research has already shown a keen interest in matters of gender, (homo)sexuality, and class in Andersen’s tales, his approach to (older) age and ageism has rather been ignored so far. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to break ground in the form of an in-depth analysis of correlations between age(ism) and the fantastic in Andersen’s literary tales “Grandmother” (1845) and “The Old House” (1847), with a particular interest in the question of how far age(ism) is constructed by both the narrator and the reader.

Print Internationalism's Uneasy Adjacencies

Print Internationalism's Uneasy Adjacencies

Containing Contagion in a Garrison State

Containing Contagion in a Garrison State

The Moral Habitat

<i>The Moral Habitat</i>

Estreno absoluto: Concert Version of Felipe Pedrell’s La Celestina (1902) in Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela (2022)

<i>Estreno absoluto</i>: Concert Version of Felipe Pedrell’s <i>La Celestina</i> (1902) in Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela (2022)

상상력과 사랑

This paper reads P. B. Shelley’s unfinished poem The Triumph of Life (1822), which recounts the poet’s visionary experience of beholding the triumphal procession of Life, in relation to his claims about imagination and love in A Defence of Poetry (1821). For Shelley, imaginative faculty forms the basis of a feeling of sympathy for others, which develops into love. This notion of sympathetic imagination appears to be the key to understanding the poem, especially the significance of Rousseau who guides the narrator through the apocalyptic vision. The principal purpose of this article is to elucidate the role of Rousseau in the Triumph, whom Shelley considers to be essentially a poet, i.e. a man of imagination. To Shelley’s way of thinking, Rosseau is proven highly imaginative in developing radical political ideas which had their roots in his fervent desire to remedy the ills of the world, and which profoundly impacted the outbreak of the French Revolution. However, Rousseau’s encounter with the vision of the “shape all light,” a malevolent spirit who offers him the cup of nepenthe, blots out his memories of the past, hence trampling the spark of imagination in his mind. For his ability to imagine ideal conditions for human existence is based upon his criticism of the harsh realities of the world—criticism being an act of remembering the past. However, Rousseau’s liberation from the chariot of Life is attained by his unswerving loyalty to democratic ideals, which holds true for Shelley.

Лабиринты интеллектуальной свободы: наука, религия и общество в современной мiровой прессе

The paper deals with two partly complementary as well as partly contradictory fields of human symbolic experience, id est Science (including Human Sciences) and Religion. Their present day complicated interrelations determine many as­pects of the current social, cultural and political history. This kind of interplay of the both modes of human imagination partly determines some substantial fea­tures of the present day mass migration processes as well as the processes of mi­grants’ adaptation in its individual, small groups’ and collective dimensions. Critical thinking of Science as well as experience of religious piety seem to be different aspects of the same, though complicated problem of human status (in Max Scheler’s terms – “die Stellung des Menschen”) in the Universe, includ­ing the universe of society. This constant and always changing interplay seems to be one of basic preconditions of our intellectual freedom. As for the compre­hensive frame of this paper, it is built on the idea of irreducibility of basic fields of human symbolic experience including science and religion (in all its dizzy va­rieties). This idea is described by the author as the idea of sometimes tacit, but always important correlative interconnection. According to author’s conviction, this idea has not only pure scholarly, but also important socio-cultural as well as political meaning.

Kant and the heuristic function of images: The poetics of scientific investigation

My reflections center upon the heuristic function of images in the creative process of producing scientific knowledge. I take as a starting point Leonel Ribeiro dos Santos’s idea of a transcendental heuristic in order to discuss the creative and original strength of scientific genius, here considered as talent or ability by means of which the intuitive faculty of imagination is placed at the service of the conceptual faculty of reason. My goal is to present the outlines of a transcendental theory that is consistent with the heuristic use of both concepts and images. My aim is not to adhere to the letter, but instead to the spirit, of Kantian philosophy in order to understand, in the context of contemporary physical theories, especially quantum theory, the non-representational function of intuitive images for explaining concepts that do not conform to any intuition. As applied to the specific case of quantum mechanics, I hold that the free play of imagination and understanding or reason is not restricted to the aesthetics of taste and the artistic production of artworks only, but is also extended to the cognitive and scientific production of theories. In my view, it is precisely this creative, fictional dimension of scientific theories that constitutes Kantian radical enlightenment in the case of scientific knowledge. Thus “Dare to know!” is also “Dare to create!”.