The word plastic denotes a dynamism of receiving and giving form

Evidence

Everything began, or began again, when, ‘falling’ one day onto the term ‘plastic’, I was brought to a stop, at once intrigued and grateful. Intrigued by its discreet presence in the Hegelian corpus, by that whole realm of the unknown which gestured through it. Grateful for something essential which was suddenly recognizable. Attempting to understand it more carefully, I started to study the way it functioned in the Hegelian text, focusing my attention onto everything in it which referred back to a dynamism of the reception and donation of form, hence to subjectivity itself in a process of self-determination. It was an ‘accident’ – the term ‘plastic’ could at first sight be considered something accidental in Hegel’s text – that brought me to the essential. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1246

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core definition of plasticity: reception and donation of form, i.e. self-determination — the exact conceptual root the reader is after.
• SEED: The accident-brings-one-to-the-essential framing offers an article angle on how chance encounters with a single word can organize a whole research program or book.
• XREF: connects to: The schema is the plastic form mediating giving and receiving — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 68; Plasticity means both receiving and giving form, unlike mere malleability — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 39; Plastic individuals become what they essentially were and wanted to be (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Plasticity names the unity of spontaneity and receptivity in giving and receiving form #corroborates (0.95)
• Plasticity names the concept’s reflexive power to both give and receive its own figures #corroborates (0.85) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 68
• The word plasticity etymologically spans both sculpting and explosion #expands (0.85)
• The intellect’s capacity to receive and give form originates its plasticity #expands (0.78) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 401