Title: A Theory of Creativity
Subject Classification:  Philosophy, Arts, Humanities  
BIC Classification: HP, HPL, HPM
BISAC Classification: PHI001000, PHI013000, PHI015000
Binding: Hardback, eBook
Planned publication date: Jul 2026
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-80866-063-4
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-80866-064-1

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Description

The thesis the author elucidates and defends in this book is that the human essence—mind, soul, spirit, reason, or psyche—is essentially a burst of creative power. The life of the human being is a continual activity of self-creation. What is the nature, or essential structure, of this power? In what sense is it both the moving and constructive principle of human action in all the spheres of human experience? The defense of the thesis is accomplished by a detailed analysis of four main propositions. First, the human essence emerges from the cosmic process, with the emergence of the human body, as a potentiality inherent in its formal organization. Second, as mind, the human essence is not a physical, metaphysical, religious, or psychological reality but a spiritual reality that comes to life in experience as a flare of human presence. Third, the realization of the human essence as a potentiality into a particular human being is an activity of self-creation. The basis of self-creation is the values of truth, morality, beauty, religiosity, and freedom. These values emerge from the human essence as an existential response to the peremptory demands of the impulse to human survival. They are concrete expressions of this impulse. We should now ask, what is the nature of the creative power that defines the essential nature of the human essence? Fourth, the author argues that it is a concrete manifestation of the cosmic process as a creative advance. It is a sui generis power that is inherently capable of or producing, or bringing into being, a novel reality ex nihilo. This idea is based on the fundamental assumption that a plausible analysis of the phenomenon of creativity should proceed from a defensible concept of the human essence. In constructing this conception, the author examines in some detail the dynamics of two human institutions: liberal arts education and fine arts. Here, he argues that the educative event in liberal arts education is essentially a creative activity and concludes his discussion by analyzing one of the most contentious questions in the study of creativity: Can creativity be taught?

Biography

Author(s):  Michael H. Mitias is a retired professor of Philosophy, based in the USA.

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