Share:


Constitutive and depictive creativities in philosophy and critical thinking

    Huiyuhl Yi Affiliation

Abstract

This paper expounds two types of creativities in philosophy while exploring several influential philosophical views and thought experiments. The two types of creativities include constitutive creativity and depictive creativity. Constitutive creativity refers to the capabilities required for constructing theoretical equipment or tools needed to constitute the core of a given philosophical thought. It can be assessed in terms of the appropriateness of the theoretical apparatuses used in the target idea. The embodiment of constitutive creativity is often coupled with depictive creativity. Depictive creativity refers to the abilities to cite striking examples or build narratives that support the issue at hand. The assessment of depictive creativity depends on the ingenuity of the examples or stories insofar as they positively contribute to the establishment of the desired conclusion. While elucidating the notions of constitutive and depictive creativities by examining several examples in the literature of philosophy, I highlight that critical thinking operates as the cornerstone on top of which both types of creativities may be built.

Article in English.


Steigiamasis ir aprašomasis kūrybiškumas filosofijoje ir kritiniame mąstyme

Santrauka

Šiame straipsnyje, tyrinėjant kai kuriuos svarbius filosofinius požiūrius ir minties eksperimentus, pristatomi du kūrybiškumo tipai filosofijoje: steigiamasis kūrybiškumas ir aprašomasis kūrybiškumas. Steigiamasis kūrybiškumas nurodo gebėjimus, reikalingus teorinėms reikmėms ir priemonėms konstruoti, būtinoms tam tikros filosofinės minties branduoliui suformuoti. Steigiamąjį kūrybiškumą galima įvertinti teorinių įrankių, kurie pasitelkiami tikslinės idėjos atžvilgiu, tinkamumo požiūriu. Steigiamojo kūrybiškumo formavimas dažnai siejamas su aprašomuoju kūrybiškumu. Aprašomasis kūrybiškumas nurodo gebėjimus remtis svariais pavyzdžiais ar kurti naratyvus, sustiprinančius duotuoju momentu svarstomą klausimą. Aprašomojo kūrybiškumo vertinimai priklauso nuo pavyzdžių ar pasakojimų išradingumo tiek, kiek jie tiesiogiai prisideda prie norimos išvados gavimo. Aiškindamas steigiamojo ir aprašomojo kūrybiškumo sąvokas bei nagrinėdamas kai kuriuos filosofinės literatūros pavyzdžius, pabrėžiu, kad kritinis mąstymas apvainikuoja galimai formuojamą abiejų tipų kūrybiškumą.

Reikšminiai žodžiai: suvokiamumo argumentas, padarinio argumentas, steigiamasis kūrybiškumas, aprašomasis kūrybiškumas, žinojimo argumentas, smuikininko atvejis.

Keyword : conceivability argument, consequence argument, constitutive creativity, depictive creativity, knowledge argument, violinist case

How to Cite
Yi, H. (2018). Constitutive and depictive creativities in philosophy and critical thinking. Creativity Studies, 11(1), 24-40. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2018.349
Published in Issue
Mar 27, 2018
Abstract Views
1037
PDF Downloads
663
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: update to the social psychology of creativity. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Baer, J. (2010). Is creativity domain specific?. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 321-341). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.021

Baumeister, R. F., Schmeichel, B. J., & DeWall, C. N. (2014). Creativity and consciousness: evidence from psychology experiments. In E. S. Paul & S. B. Kaufman (Eds.), The philosophy of creativity: New essays (pp. 185-198). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199836963.003.0010

Boden, M. A. (2004). The creative mind: myths and mechanisms. London and New York: Routledge.

Boden, M. A. (2014). Creativity and artificial intelligence: A contradiction in terms?. In E. S. Paul & S. B. Kaufman (Eds.), The philosophy of creativity: New essays (pp. 224-245). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199836963.003.0012

Briskman, L. (2009). Creative product and creative process in science and art. In M. Krausz, D. Dutton, & K. Bardsley (Eds.), The idea of creativity (Vol. 28, pp. 17-42). Series: Philosophy of history and culture. M. Krausz (Series Ed.). Leiden, Boston: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004174443.i-348.12

Campbell, D. T. (1960). Blind variation and selective retentions in creative thought as in other knowledge processes. Psychological Review, 67(6), 380-400. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040373

Carlson, E. (2000). Incompatibilism and the transfer of power necessity. Noûs, 34(2), 277-290. https://doi.org/10.1111/0029-4624.00211

Cropley, D., & Cropley, A. (2010). Functional creativity: “Products” and the generation of effective novelty. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 301-319). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.019

Descartes, R. (1984). Meditations on first philosophy. In The philosophical writings of descartes (Vol. II, pp. 12–62). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dutton, D. (2001). What Is Genius?. Philosophy and Literature, 25(1), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.1353/phl.2001.0005

Elster, J. (2000). Ulysses unbound: Studies in rationality, precommitment, and constraints. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625008

Feist, G. J. (2002). The influence of personality on artistic and scientific creativity. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 273-296). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Feist, G. J. (2010). The function of personality in creativity: The nature and nurture of the creative personality. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 113-130). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.009

Fischer, J. M. (2013). Abortion and Ownership. The Journal of Ethics, 17(4), 275-304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-013-9152-z

Gabora, L., & Kaufman, S. B. (2010). Evolutionary Approaches to Creativity. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 279-300). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.018

Gaut, B. (2010). The philosophy of creativity. Philosophy Compass, 5(12), 1034-1046. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2010.00351.x

Gaut, B., & Livingston, P. (2003). Introduction: The creation of art: Issues and perspectives. In B. Gaut & P. Livingston (Eds.), The creation of art: New essays in philosophical aesthetics (pp. 1-32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jackson, F. (1982). Epiphenomenal Qualia. Philosophical Quarterly, 32(127), 127-136. https://doi.org/10.2307/2960077

Jackson, F. (1986). What Mary Didn’t Know. The Journal of Philosophy, 83(5), 291-295. https://doi.org/10.2307/2026143

Kant, I. (2000). Critique of the power of judgment. P. Guyer (Ed.). Series: The Cambridge edition of the works of Immanuel Kant. P. Guyer & A. W. Wood (General Eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804656

Kaufman, A. B., Kornilov, S. A., Bristol, A. S., Tan, M., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2010). The neurobiological foundation of creative cognition. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 216-232). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.014

Kripke, S. A. (1980). Naming and necessity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Leddy, Th. (1990). Is the creative process in art a form of puzzle solving?. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 24(3), 83-97. https://doi.org/10.2307/3332801

Lewis, D. (1983a). Mad Pain and Martian Pain. In D. Lewis, Philosophical papers (Vol. I, pp. 122-129). New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lewis, D. (1983b). Postscript to “Mad Pain and Martian Pain”. In D. Lewis, Philosophical papers (Vol. I, pp. 130-132). New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lewis, D. (1999). What experience teaches. In Papers in metaphysics and epistemology (pp. 262-290). Series: Cambridge Studies in Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625343.018

Lewis, D. (2003). On the plurality of worlds. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.

Loar, B. (2002). Phenomenal states (Second Version). In D. J. Chalmers (Ed.), The philosophy of mind: Classical and contemporary readings (pp. 295-311). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Locher, P. J. (2010). How does a visual artist create an artwork?. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 131-144). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.017

Lu, M. (2013). Defusing Thomson’s Violinist Analogy. Human Life Review, 39(1), 46-62.

Lubart, T. (2010). Cross-cultural perspectives on creativity. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 265-278). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.017

McKay, Th. J., & Johnson, D. (1996). A Reconsideration of an argument against compatibilism. Philosophical Topics, 24(2), 113-122. https://doi.org/10.5840/philtopics199624219

Nemirow, L. (2007). So this is what it’s like: A defense of the ability hypothesis. In T. Alter & S. Walter (Eds.), Phenomenal concepts and phenomenal knowledge: New essays on consciousness and physicalism (pp. 32-51). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171655.003.0002

Novitz, D. (1999). Creativity and constraint. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 77(1), 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048409912348811

Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. New York: Basic Books.

Paul, E. S., & Kaufman, S. B. (2014). Introducing the Philosophy of Creativity. In E. S. Paul & S. B. Kaufman (Eds.), The Philosophy of Creativity: New Essays (pp. 3-15). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199836963.001.0001

Picciuto, E., & Carruthers, P. (2014). The origins of creativity. In E. S. Paul & S. B. Kaufman (Eds.), The philosophy of creativity: New Essays (pp. 199-223). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199836963.003.0011

Puccio, G. J., & Cabra, J. F. (2010). Organizational creativity: A systems approach. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 145-173). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.011

Richards, R. (2010). Everyday creativity: Process and way of life – four key issues. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 189-215). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.013

Runco, M. A. (2010). Parsimonious creativity and its measurement. In E. Villalba (Ed.), Measuring creativity: Proceedings for the Conference, “Can Creativity Be Measured?” (pp. 393-406). Brussels, May 28-29, 2009. Luxembourg City: Publications Office of the European Union.

Russ, S. W., & Fiorelli, J. A. (2010). Developmental approaches to creativity. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 233–249). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.015

Sawyer, R. K. (2012). Explaining creativity: The science of human innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Searle, J. R. (1980). Minds, brain, and programs. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(3), 417-457. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00005756

Simonton, D. K. 1999. Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Simonton, D. K. (2009). Creativity as a Darwinian phenomenon: The blind-variation and selective-retention model. In M. Krausz, D. Dutton, & K. Bardsley (Eds.), The idea of creativity (Vol. 28, pp. 63-82). Series: Philosophy of history and culture. M. Krausz (Series Ed.). Leiden, Boston: Brill.

Simonton, D. K. (2010). Creativity in highly eminent individuals. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 174-188). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.012

Smith, J. K., & Smith, L. F. (2010). Educational creativity. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 250-264). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.016

Stokes, D. (2011). Minimally creative thought. Metaphilosophy, 42(5), 658-681. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9973.2011.01716.x

Thomson, J. J. (1971). A defense of abortion. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 1(1), 47-66. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6561-1_6

van Inwagen, P. (1983). An essay on free will. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

van Inwagen, P. (2000). Free will remains a mystery. In J. E. Tomberlin (Ed.), Philosophical Perspectives (Vol. 14, pp. 1-19). Action and Freedom. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.

van Inwagen, P. (2009). Metaphysics. Boulder: Westview Press.

Ward, Th. B., & Kolomyts, Yu. (2010). Cognition and creativity. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 93-112). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.008

Weisberg, R. W. (2006). Creativity: Understanding innovation in problem solving, science, invention, and the arts. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Widerker, D. (1987). On an Argument for Incompatibilism. Analysis, 47(1), 37-41. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/47.1.37