The Debris of Imagination
One of the most important components of the human mind, imagination has been the object of interest of many thinkers and researchers of all times. Despite the attention, there have been many unknown ideas about its source, its way of functioning, its status among other mental faculties. And there is also a critical component of its presentation. We asked why? First because of the impossibility of giving satisfying explanations, second because it has been considered dangereous for reason, for the right judgement. It is true that imagination too can stir the feelings, the emotions, as delirium and hallucinations are extreme examples of the effects of the lack of control over this faculty. Even if today imagination has a higher status, it is left in the care of the psychologists. The others, philosophers, anthropologists, aestheticians, etc. concentrate of the study of the imaginary. This does not mean that everything was said about imagination, on the contrary, there are a lot of explanations to be given on this subject, to highlight the dangers, but especially the good effects of imagination and its activity on the human existence. The specialty studies can investigate further this subject.
Keywords: Imagination, image, mental faculty, perception, cognition, truth
1. Toate simţurile furnizează imagini, însă, desigur, cele mai pregnante sunt cele vizuale şi auditive. Interesante sunt de pildă şi imaginile corporale, mai cu seamă când au şi funcţii expresive sau comunicative, în funcţie de un anumit cod, grăitor pentru cei care sunt familiarizaţi cu el.
2. Eric Clemens, La fiction et l’apparaître, Paris, Ed. Albin Michel, 1993, p. 164.
3. Diferenţele dintre imagini, cele artistice şi cele care stau la baza activităţii ştiinţifice sau cele proiective, cele onirice etc. sunt descumpănitor de mari. Cu toate acestea corolarul este acelaşi: imaginaţia. Sunt explicabile astfel atât dificultăţile pe care le întâmpină găsirea numitorilor comuni, dar şi fascinaţia pe care o exercită imaginaţia graţie complexităţii pe care o presupune.
4. Secolul XVII a devalorizat accentuat imaginaţia pentru că o considera principala generatoare de superstiţii, iar cunoaşterea căreia îi era asociată era şi ea asimilată vagului şi confuziei.
5. Wolfgang Iser, The Fictive and the Imaginary. Charting Literary Anthropology, The Johns Hopkins University press, 1993, p.173.
6. Hélène Védrine, Les grandes conceptions de l’imaginaire. De Platon à Sartre et Lacan, Paris, Librairie Générale Française, 1990, p. 153.
