The Poetic Function of Imagination: The Parallel Process of Poiêsis

In the advent of Postmodernism, modern approaches to understanding the nature of things is being put into question. As the gap between objective and subjective realms of experiences is narrowing, there is an increased need for a more artful approach to science. This paper serves as my attempt to promote the field of Expressive Arts Therapy (ExATh) as a mode of poetic science for understanding the experience of ‘Being’ in the world. Through a critical review of the semantic development of the ancient Greek concepts poiêsis, noêsis, and aisthêsis, the imagination is identified as a function of alêthaic revealing, personified in the myth of Athena’s birth. Data from the fields of philosophy, phenomenology, psychology, mythology, etymology, and cognitive linguistics was gathered to identify fundamental elements for a model of the poetic function of the imagination to inform ExATh practices. As the foundation of poetic science is to remain loyal to the phenomena of concern, results were validated by comparison to developments in the field of Quantum Physics, at the heart of which is the notion that we are a part of that nature that we seek to understand. Collected evidence is presented as a prototype model of the poetic function to be used for readers to experiment with quantum-informed approaches to ExATh