Sartre and Ricoeur on Productive Imagination

Commenting on Jean‐Paul Sartre's theory of imagination, Paul Ricoeur argues that Sartre fails to address the productive nature of imaginative acts. According to Ricoeur, Sartre's examples show that he thinks of imagination in mimetic terms, neglecting its innovative and creative dimensions. Imagination, Ricoeur continues, manifests itself most clearly in fiction, wherein new meaning is created. By using fiction as the paradigm of imaginative activity, Ricoeur is able to argue against Sartre that the essence of imagination lies not in its ability to reproduce absent objects, but rather in the ability to transform reality through creative acts. Motivated by the intuition that Sartre the writer could not have forgotten to address such crucial dimensions of imagination, I examine Sartre's philosophical and literary work, showing that not only does he develop a notion of productive imagination, he also puts this notion to work by articulating the relationship between imagination, narrative, and identity formation, well before Ricoeur advanced his narrative‐identity theory. I argue that Sartre, like Ricoeur and MacIntyre, another representative of narrative‐theory whose criticism of Sartre I address in this essay, views imagination and narrativity as necessary conditions for the formation of a coherent and meaningful sense of self.     

Sex Differences in the Presentation of Chronic Low Back Pain

Sex differences in 351 patients with chronic low back pain were examined. Biological, psychological, and psychosocial factors were considered. Sex differences in adaptive functioning were consistent with traditional gender roles. Significant interactions were found for sex and employment status, and sex and marital status. Retired women reported more pain and less activity than retired men. Retired men reported the least pain of any group. Outdoor work and social activities show opposite within–group patterns for men and women when stratified by employment status. Marriage was associated with more household work for women and less for men. The financial and social contexts of employment status and marriage are different for men and women. Results suggest the treatment of women with chronic low back pain requires attention to work in the home and the financial and social context of work outside the home.     

Contrast effects in flavour preference learning

In four experiments the role of contrast effects in producing learned flavour preferences was examined. The experiments showed that contrast effects are pervasive in flavour preference learning, producing results that are often paradoxical from a traditional reinforcement point of view. In Experiment 1, rats preferred a reinforced flavour over a nonreinforced flavour more if the reinforcer was 1% sucrose than if the reinforcer was 8% sucrose. Because the cue flavour was dissolved in 8% sucrose, this represents an anticipatory positive contrast effect. In Experiment 2, the relationship between cue and consequence was shown to be important in flavour preference learning, as expected if contrast effects are involved. In Experiment 3, rats preferred a flavour that was reinforced 4 times, and they preferred this flavour more than one reinforced 8 times, presumably because the greater the expectancy of the consequence, the greater the anticipatory negative contrast. In Experiment 4, rats consumed less of 0.15% saccharin if they received 32% sucrose randomly 90 min either before or after the 0.15% saccharin than if they received only 0.15% saccharin, a simultaneous negative contrast effect.