scholarly journals Beyond Function: Imagination as Semi-Determination

Problemos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristupas Sabolius
Keyword(s):  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Specific Character ◽  
Functional Description ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis

The article raises the hypothesis that the activity of imagination cannot be fully described by a functional description. To this end, two positions are analyzed: the philosophy of Cornelius Castoriadis, who emphasizes social imaginary and radical imagination, is juxtaposed with Gilbert Simondon’s theory of cyclic and genetic images. Castoriadis’s consideration reveals the specific character of indeterminacy, found in the work of imagination, which enables the coexistence of contradictions in psyche. Based on this reading I propose to perceive imagination through a semi-deterministic take. Whilst it is also possible to see an effort to overcome functional determination in Simondon’s theory, the latter also offers a way to interpret the imagination beyond the anthropological realm. The image performs as mutual potential between organisms and their milieus, and this relationality is never fully determined, but rather semi-determined. Thus, by providing the tools for rethinking of determination and functionality, the juxtaposition of Castoriadis and Simondon enables to speculate on the need of a possible the concept of sociobiological imagination.

Mapping the theme of Creativity in Cornelius Castoriadis’s and Paul Ricoeur’s Social Imaginaries

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-36
Author(s):  
George Sarantoulias ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Philosophical Anthropology ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Social Imaginaries ◽  
Cultural Imagination ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theories Of Action ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis ◽  
Convergence And Divergence

This paper elucidates the notion that action is creative through the social imaginaries perspective. Hans Joas’s critique of sociological theories on action developed in The Creativity of Action (1996 [1992]) argued that creativity is an essential concept to better understand social action. Cornelius Castoriadis and Paul Ricoeur employ an understanding of action as being inextricably connected to the social imaginary and capable of bringing forth historically novel forms of being and doing. An elucidation of Castoriadis’s dichotomy between the instituted and instituting imaginaries and Ricoeur’s distinction of the ideological and utopian poles of the cultural imagination bring to the surface points of convergence and divergence in their respective understandings of the social imaginary and historical novelty. Inspired by Joas’s critique of sociological theories of action through pragmatism, which is underlined by a critique of the philosophical anthropological assumptions held by structuralism, this essay argues that Castoriadis’s and Ricoeur’s distinct insights on the creative dimension of social action and the way in which social reality emerges can elucidate further an anti-structuralist philosophical anthropology that can help inform sociological theories of action.

The Rhetoric of Othering in the Greek Parliament: Representations of the Troika and the Self/Other Dichotomy

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilemini Sosoni
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Support Mechanism ◽  
Parliamentary Debate ◽  
Common Support ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis

AbstractCornelius Castoriadis (1987: 147) argues that all societies have a central imaginary in order to consider basic questions about their identity. Imaginary specifications provide an answer to these questions, while they assemble, adjust, fabricate and construct a society. In all this, language plays a crucial role. As Castoriadis points out, it is through language that these social imaginary significations become manifest and do their constitutive work. In the spirit of these claims and the assumption that identities are constructed discursively (Tekin 2010: 4), the present article uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to investigate the construction of the identity of the Troika – the common support mechanism for Greece in the wake of its sovereign debt crisis and threat of a disorderly default in 2010 consisting of the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. The aim is to determine how the different political parties construct the identity of the troika. Since identity necessarily concerns a relation to the Self and the Other, and othering is an important activity in the construction of identity, the paper studies the strategies of othering used in the Greek Parliament by the different political parties across all political affiliations during the parliamentary debate preceding the vote on the second bailout loan on 12 February, 2012. The paper also seeks to identify the social imaginary of Greek society and determine whether it is one of social division and dissimulation or one of unity and accord.

scholarly journals The Social Imaginary of Ruination: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Disaster Mediation

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Vanderwees
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Western Modernity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis ◽  
Historical Specificity ◽  
Lacanian Theory ◽  
Geographic Site

Background  Although the popularity of ruins has accompanied Western modernity in waves since the eighteenth century, the post-9/11 decade marks a notable resurgence of the imagery, aesthetics, and rhetoric of ruins, especially in American culture. This article was completed a few months prior to the global COVID-19 crisis. Analysis  While many scholars dismiss contemporary forms of ruin gazing as a mindless fascination with disaster and destruction in its virtual circulation, the author contends that this contemporary imaginary has significant political and social implications. Conclusion and implications  Although each geographic site of ruination has its own social, political, and historical specificity, the author draws from Cornelius Castoriadis’ psychosocial extension of Lacanian theory to designate a broader iconographic and discursive trend in American culture whereby the imagery and rhetoric of destruction contributes to what he calls the “social imaginary of ruination." RÉSUMÉ Contexte  Bien que la popularité des ruines ait accompagné la modernité occidentale dans les vagues depuis le XVIIIe siècle, la décennie post-11 septembre marque une résurgence notable de l’imagerie, de l’esthétique et de la rhétorique des ruines, en particulier dans la culture américaine. Cet article a été achevé quelques mois avant la crise mondiale du covid-19. Analyse  Alors que de nombreux chercheurs rejettent les formes contemporaines de ruine en les considérant comme une fascination aveugle pour les catastrophes et la destruction dans sa circulation virtuelle, l’auteur soutient que cet imaginaire contemporain a des implications politiques et sociales importantes. Conclusions et implications  Bien que chaque site géographique de ruine ait sa propre spécificité sociale, politique et historique, l’auteur s’inspire de l’extension psychosociale de Cornelius Castoriadis de la théorie lacanienne pour désigner une tendance iconographique et discursive plus large dans la culture américaine par laquelle l’imagerie et la rhétorique de la destruction contribuent à ce que il appelle «l’imaginaire social de la ruine».  

Modern Social Imaginaries

2018 ◽  
pp. 107-128
Author(s):  
Craig Browne ◽  
Andrew P. Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Social Imaginaries ◽  
Alternative Modernities ◽  
Multiple Modernities ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Modern Capitalism ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis ◽  
To Come

Taylor’s political thinking seeks to come to terms with the changed ideological and political context that coalesced during the twentieth century’s last decades and the new millennium. It involves a reinterpretation of modernity in light of its questioning and a new take on the cultural background to modernity’s dominant institutional forms, liberal democracy and modern capitalism. Taylor’s contributions to two theoretical perspectives that offer important insights into the present are explained: multiple (or alternative) modernities and social imaginaries. The chapter clarifies multiple modernities and social imaginaries’ intellectual backgrounds and development in response to specific theoretical and political problems, like the dissolution of State Socialist societies, anti-colonial struggles, and religious fundamentalism. It argues that Taylor’s desire to revisit the question of the relationship between religion and the secular motivated his work on modern social imaginaries. Taylor contends that the modern social imaginary generates a notion of society as constituted as a moral order of mutual benefit and that this image informs individual practices. Taylor’s proposals are critically compared with those of the principal initiators of the social imaginaries theoretical perspective, especially those of Cornelius Castoriadis and Claude Lefort.

scholarly journals Institución, autonomía y autogestión ante el desastre (O de cómo los terremotos hacen temblar lo instituido)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica Anzaldo Montoya ◽  
Jesús Salvador Estrada Milán ◽  
José Javier Maisterrena Zubirán ◽  
Andrés Ismael Galindo Solís ◽  
Teresa de Jesús Ramos Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Religion And Science ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis ◽  
Sociedad Civil ◽  
Medios De Comunicacion

Resumen: Las catástrofes históricas, como lo fueron los terremotos de septiembre de 2017 acontecidos en la Ciudad de México y los estados del sur y centro de la república, representan una oportunidad crítica para mirar nuestras instituciones sociales. A partir del aparato teórico de Cornelius Castoriadis, este artículo reflexiona la catástrofe por los terremotos como analizador de las instituciones sociales tales como la familia, la religión, la ciencia y sus correspondientes significaciones imaginarias sociales. Metodológicamente, el análisis se fundamenta en los discursos que circularon durante y después de los sismos en diferentes medios de comunicación y redes sociales, así como las acciones de la sociedad civil. Finalmente, se plantea que los pasados sismos en tanto situaciones límite, tienen la posibilidad de hacer emerger un por ser de la política que crea y posibilita la autonomía.AbstractHistorical catastrophes, such as the September 2017 earthquakes that occurred in México City and the southern and central states of Mexico, mean a critical opportunity to look at our social institutions. Base on Cornelius Castoriadis' political and social theory, this paper offers a reflection in which we take these earthquakes as an analyzer of the institutions (family, religion and science) and their corresponding social imaginary significations. To this end, the speeches that circulated during and after the earthquakes in different media and social networks, as well as the actions of civil society, were examined. Finally, we argue that the past earthquakes, as extreme situations, have the possibility to trigger autonomy processes in our societies.

The antinomies of the modern imaginary and the double dialectic of control

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 072551362097599
Author(s):  
Craig Browne
Keyword(s):  
Modern Society ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
The Social ◽  
Marxist Analysis ◽  
Cornelius Castoriadis ◽  
Marxist Conception ◽  
Modern Imaginary ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
State Socialist

Cornelius Castoriadis made a significant and distinctive contribution to the development of the notion of the dialectic of control. In the first instance, Castoriadis formulated an important reconceptualization and restatement of the Marxist conception of the central contradiction of capitalism. He argued that capitalism depended on the creativity of workers while excluding them from effective control. Similarly, Castoriadis sought to extend the Marxist analysis of those tendencies present within the structuration of the labour process that may prefigure a socialist reorganization of production. Castoriadis’s analyses of capitalism during the phase of his involvement with Socialism or Barbarism are likewise informed by his assessment of state socialist regimes. In particular, this assessment provided important insights into the modalities of control in modern society and the complications of transcending forms of institutional domination in modernity. It will be argued that some of the distinctive intentions of Castoriadis’s later elucidation of the social imaginary can be traced to his interpretation of bureaucratic capitalism and that this is evident in his subsequent accounts of the capitalist imaginary. In his later theory, Castoriadis interprets the problem of the dialectic of control in terms of the relationship between instituting and instituted society. Castoriadis’s analysis of capitalism during the period of Socialism or Barbarism will be situated in the wider debates over capitalism at that time. Similarly, Castoriadis’s departure from some of the philosophical sources that influenced the development of the notion of the dialectic of control will be explored.

Christopher LASCH y Cornelius CASTORIADIS, La culture de l’égoïsme. Lonrai, Climats, département des éditions Flammarion.

1969 ◽  
pp. 150-153
Author(s):  
EMILIANO ALDEGANI
Keyword(s):  
Cornelius Castoriadis ◽  
Christopher Lasch

Christopher LASCH y Cornelius CASTORIADIS, La culture del’égoïsme. Lonrai, Climats, département des éditions Flammarion.2012. ISBN: 978-0812-8463-0.

Percepções de Inclusão: o que pensam e o que dizem os servidores de um Instituto Federal de Educação

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Eliane Quincozes Porto ◽  
Lucinara Bastiani Corrêa ◽  
Vantoir Brancher
Keyword(s):  
Cornelius Castoriadis

O presente artigo é resultado do projeto de pesquisa “As representações de Inclusão em um Instituto Federal de Educação do RS: repensando processos formativos”, desenvolvido pelo Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Formação Inicial e Continuada de Professores MAGMA. Olhamos para as questões sociais a partir dos pressupostos do imaginário social de Cornelius Castoriadis, com o seguinte problema de pesquisa: Quais são as representações de inclusão instituídas nos servidores de um Instituto Federal de Ensino do RS e como estas representações tem repercutido nas ações, programas e projetos desenvolvidos na Instituição? Como objetivo geral buscamos conhecer as representações de inclusão instituídas entre os servidores de um Instituto Federal de Ensino do RS e perceber as possíveis repercussões delas nas ações, programas e projetos desenvolvidos na Instituição. Além disso, nos propomos a conhecer os principais mitos existentes sobre inclusão nesse contexto de ensino; mapear contextos e temáticas que necessitam formação permanente com foco na inclusão nessa Instituição. Como recurso de produção de dados utilizamos entrevista semi-estruturada com perguntas abrangentes, sendo que trabalhamos com narrativas orais, por estar inserida num processo de valorização das falas dos colaboradores, dando voz aos mesmos. A análise dos dados foi realizada através da Análise de Conteúdo, sob os pressupostos de Bardin (2016). As categorias emergentes após esse processo foram: significações de inclusão e condições institucionais.

Body and Gender within the Stratifications of the Social Imaginary

Hypatia ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-118
Author(s):  
Alice Pechriggl
Keyword(s):  
Social Imaginary ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender
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