as-if system of idea

is a methodological approach that treats things 'as if' they were more solidly a certain way than they actually are in order to gain genuine insight.

In brief, my argument is that although historical facts are never, in any sense, in equilibrium, we can gain genuine insights if, for the purpose of analysis, we force these facts within the constraining mould of an as if system of ideas, composed of concepts which are treated as if they were part of an equilibrium system. Furthermore I claim to demonstrate that this fictional procedure is not merely an analytical device of the social anthropologist, it also corresponds to the way the Kachins themselves apprehend their own system through the medium of the verbal categories of their own language' (Leach 1964:ix).

as if system of idea, n.Definitions

as if system of idea