ABSTRACT
Social imaginary significations are manifested through legem and teukhein, they form the 'background' out of which legein and teukhein may emerge. Castoriadis presents a modified psychoanalytic theorization of the development of the psyche in the early years of life, a theorization that indicates the way in which social imaginary significations are internalized within the psyche. Castoriadis stresses that although social imaginary significations are internalized within the psyche, there is no one-to-one correspondence between them and individual psychical representations. Because the social is primarily a 'magma of social imaginary significations', it retains a degree of indeterminacy both in relation to nature and in the context of history. The magmas of social imaginary significations can be regarded as corresponding to partial social structures rather than to an overall 'society' without this changing anything for the notion of a magma of significations or the implications drawn from it.
