Definitions HQ

Imagination (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the great 'irrealizing' function of consciousness; its correlate is the imaginary.

Imagination (n.) in ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠quasi-observation takes the attitude of observing an observation that teaches nothing — imagining a page, I take the reader's posture and look at the lines, but I do not read; I already know what is written.

Imagination (n.) inhabits ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a world where nothing happens — I can make a horse run or a plant grow, but there is never a second of surprise; the moving object never precedes the intention.

Imagination (n.) vanished ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠when psychologists stopped believing in faculties, and deserves back an importance one could not exaggerate: not a reborn sensation but one of the four or five great psychic functions.

Imagination (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a magical act, an incantation to make the thing one desires appear so one can take possession of it — imperious and infantile, refusing distance and difficulty, like the child acting on the world from his bed by orders and prayers.

Imagination (n.) yields ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no irreal world, since a world needs objects that are strictly individuated and in balance with an environment, and no irreal object is either.

Imagination (n.) changes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠by all or nothing: a turned-up nose leaves Pierre's face as it was, while a broken nose brings a boxer who is no longer Pierre, as in dreams.

Imagination (n.) gives ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a world without freedom, contrary to what one might believe: not determined, but fatal, the inverse of freedom, because possibilities require a real world to be thought from.