Abstract

In Critique of Forms of Life, Rahel Jaeggi develops an immanent critique to evaluate and criticize forms of life. Jaeggi seeks a criterion that relies neither on external nor internal standards but rather on an imminent, non-teleological quasi-standard rooted in ongoing social dynamics. She claims that social learning processes can serve as a standard or indicator of progress within forms of life; however, she does not fully explain how these learning processes demonstrate both normative and functional progress. In this paper, I argue that Jaeggi’s immanent critique requires a more robust conception of agency, one that emphasizes the role of creativity in the dialectical relationship between active and passive learning processes. Such a framework would better capture the progressive and regressive movements within forms of life. Furthermore, I expand on how creativity in narrating forms of life animates active learning processes and determines the success or failure of social transformations from both functional and normative perspectives. I suggest that the focus should be on how individuals and collective groups, as learners, actively transform their social environments through new experiences and imaginative narratives, in order to detect the immanent problems that occur in the learning processes of forms of life themselves.