Social Imaginaries 2.1 (2016) 25-69 Myth Miki Kiyoshi [三木 清] Translated by John W.M. Krummel Abstract: "Myth" comprises the fi rst chapter of the book, Th e Logic of the Imagination, by Miki Kiyoshi. In this chapter Miki analyzes the signifi cance of myth (shinwa) as possessing a certain reality despite being "fi ctions." He begins by broadening the meaning of the imagination to argue for a logic of the imagination that involves expressive action or poiesis (production) in general, of which myth is one important product. Th e imagination gathers in myth material from the environing world lived by the social collectivity. Its formation of images (Bilder) expresses the pathos of a people vis-à-vis their environment, but myth also contains elements of logos in the form of intellectual representations and fi gures. And their combination becomes expressed externally by stimulating and guiding action. In this way Miki argues that myths contain both emotive and kinetic elements, which by moving people to action, are capable of making history. Th us rooted in the symbiosis between individual and social and between society and environment, myth possesses a "historical creativity." And he also argues that myths can be present with a sense of reality at any epoch in history, even today, wherever and whenever their primeval power is felt to function, "drawing out" a new reality, a new world, out of the natural world.1 Key Words: myth - imagination - creative imagination - productive imagination - Kyoto School philosophy - poiesis - Japanese Philosophy Section 1 Th e term 'logic of imagination' [構想力の論理] (Logik der Einbildungskraft) derives from Baumgarten. It has also been called the 'logic of fantasy' [想像の 論理] (Logik der Phantasie). According to Cassirer (1922, p. 6), the concept