Cosmosis and the human imagination: the symbolic incorporation of the environment in the experience of traditional climbing

This article explores the relationship between the notion of cosmosis and human imagination, examining the symbolic incorporation of the environment. To this end, we seek to articulate the conceptual link among Gaston Bachelard and Gilbert Durand’s studies of the imaginary, Bernard Andrieu’s notion of cosmosis, and embodied experience in nature-based sports. We will use the experiences reported by traditional climbers in the Chilean and Argentine Patagonia as an example. The study reveals how deep immersion in wild environments generates perceptual and imaginative transformations. The perception of the practice shifts its focus from technical performance to symbolic resonance, feelings of belonging, and otherness. These transformations are rooted in pre-reflective marks inscribed on the living body, constituting what we call imaginative cosmosis. By integrating phenomenological and anthropological structures, the article contributes to the epistemological expansion of the philosophy of sport, advocating a shift from anthropocentric to ecocentric paradigms, where the body is seen as a symbolic place of resonance with the world.