The place of imagination in the Sociología of Action. An essay drawing from Schütz

Abstract

Schütz´s work is one of the few that in the context of the sociological theory of action has assigned a place to the imagination. Considering this specificity, and the broader utility offered by the technical vocabulary of phenomenology, the intention of this work is to differentiate levels and aspects of action where imagination plays its role. Following Schütz, two general planes can be distinguished: that of the imagination as a fantasizing activity of projects, and that of the imagination as a finite field of meaning, parallel to the "world of everyday life". On both levels Schütz´s writings suggest, but only partly concretize, a series of systematic connections with the theory of action. The article elaborates these connections, then suggesting some of their consequences to revisit the action/structure problem.