Plasticity moved from sculpture to education and biology by extension

Evidence

These definitions help to clarify the ‘hermeneutic circle’ in which this undertaking is caught, since we cannot complete the formation of the term ‘plasticity’ without giving it a definition and, in this case, the defining and the defined are identical. Admittedly, if we are to separate one from the other, ‘the extension must vary’. But these alterations themselves take advantage of the signification of the term ‘plasticity’: indeed, the word’s evolution in the language reveals already its ‘exportation outside its original domain’. Plasticity’s native land is the field of art. Plasticity characterizes the art of ‘modelling’ and, in the first instance, the art of sculpture. The plastic arts are those whose central aim is the articulation and development of forms; among these are counted architecture, drawing and painting. Hence, by extension, plasticity signifies the general aptitude for development, the power to be moulded by one’s culture, by education. We speak of the plasticity of the newborn, of the child’s plasticity of character. Plasticity is, in another context, characterized by ‘suppleness’ and flexibility, as in the case of the ‘plasticity’ of the brain. Yet it also means the ability to evolve and adapt. It is this sense we invoke when we speak of a ‘plastic virtue’ possessed by animals, plants, and, in general, all living things. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 224

Categorization

• DEFINE: Traces the semantic migration of plasticity from its ‘native’ domain of sculpture/art through culture, education, character, brain, and living organisms — the pre-history of modern neuroscience usage.
• XREF: Directly connects to the reader’s brain research: the ‘plasticity of the brain’ and ‘plastic virtue’ of living things name the exact lines Malabou will later push against lab-based definitions. — connects to: Plastic individuality mediates between sculptural and philosophical plasticity.; Brain plasticity is often misread as flexibility, a docility-based economy — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 154; The term plasticity entered French in 1785 and German around Goethe’s era.

Broader Connections

• Plastic individuality mediates between sculptural and philosophical plasticity. #expands (0.80)
• Brain plasticity is often misread as flexibility, a docility-based economy #exemplifies (0.75) — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 154