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Imagination and the imaginary.

Warren Colman1

  • 1gcr65@ntlworld.com

The Journal of Analytical Psychology
|February 3, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Real imagination requires accepting absence, distinguishing it from 'the imaginary,' which defensively denies negation. This distinction is crucial for understanding symbol formation and psychological development.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Psychoanalysis

Background:

  • Explores the nature of imagination and its relation to reality.
  • Reviews theoretical antecedents in analytical psychology and psychoanalysis, particularly from the 1960s.
  • Focuses on the concepts of negation, absence, and presence in psychological theory.

Observation:

  • Real imagination is defined by the acknowledgment of absence.
  • 'The imaginary' is characterized as a defensive misuse of imagination, denying negation.
  • Negation encompasses aspects of reality that challenge fantasy, such as absence, loss, and otherness.

Findings:

  • Symbol formation arises from the transcendent function operating between presence and absence.
  • Distinguishes between genuine imagination and 'the imaginary' as a defense mechanism.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Highlights the role of acknowledging absence in ego development and managing disappointment.

    • Implications:

    • Understanding the distinction between imagination and 'the imaginary' is key to psychological health.
    • Clinical applications include recognizing how 'the imaginary' wards off Oedipal disappointment.
    • Provides a framework for analyzing defenses against reality in psychoanalytic and analytical psychology.