Introduction

Imagination is a difficult term to define and a difficult experience to articulate. This chapter introduces the complex ways in which the imagination intersects with the domain of ethical concern. A passage from the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus equates the sinful character of adulterous acts and adulterous fantasies, and American President Jimmy Carter’s reflections on the meaning of that verse in his life, serves as an entry point for the discussion. The shifting meanings of the term “imagination” across the Western philosophical and literary canon are summarized. The term “ethics” is similarly introduced as shifting meanings across time and culture. Two dimensions of ethical concern are sketched: the intrapsychic and the interpsychic. Drawing on several psychoanalytic and Jungian analytic writers, the nature and implications of the therapist’s imaginal experiences of the client are briefly considered. An outline of the remaining chapters is provided.