The Common Is the Collective

The Analytics of Common Sense and Its Normative Consequences for Imagination

Datos Bibliográficos

ID19221981
AutoresThomas Telios (0000-0001-5801-6791, University of St.Gallen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen31
Número1
Páginas36-55
Fecha de publicación2026-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAngelaki (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0969-725X • E-ISSN: 1469-2899
EditorialRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0969725x.2026.2620308
OpenAlexW7128988825
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas28

In this paper, I follow Avshalom Schwartz's (2024) recent suggestion to treat Aristotle's imagination as “the psychological microfoundations of collective action and thus helps explain how we can move from individual psychology to collective agency and action.” As I argue, though, imagination can unravel such a political function thanks to the fact that it is an affection (πάθος) of what Aristotle introduces and calls “common sense” (κοινὴ αἴσθησις). In support of this argument, I start by presenting Schwartz's reasoning as to why imagination can qualify as the psychological foundation of collective actions. Building upon that, I return to Aristotle's concept of common sense to sketch its functions. In addition, I qualify common sense as a σύνολον, a condition of individuation, and, leaning on Catherine Malabou and Jacques Derrida, an analysis of common sense as a collective event. In doing so, common sense is disclosed as a collective, both logical-analytical and normative, process that acknowledges, fosters, and accommodates difference. It is thanks to such an understanding of common sense that imagination can act as a regulative and inclusive fundament that can furnish the community with a common, yet inclusive and non-hierarchical or excluding common goal. In conclusion, I hint at further intertwinements of Aristotle's conceptualization of common sense with concepts like memory and utopia

Action (physics) · Agency (philosophy) · Collective action · Common sense · Conceptualization · Contingency · Foundation (evidence) · Function (biology) · Microfoundations · Evolution and Science Education · Japanese History and Culture · Study and Philosophy of Religion