The Philosophy of Creativity New Essays

Creativity pervades human life. It is the mark of individuality, the vehicle of self-expression, and the engine of progress in every human endeavor. It also raises a wealth of neglected and yet evocative philosophical questions: What is the role of consciousness in the creative process? How does the audience for a work for art influence its creation? How can creativity emerge through childhood pretending? Do great works of literature give us insight into human nature? Can a computer program really be creative? How do we define creativity in the first place? Is it a virtue? What is the difference between creativity in science and art? Can creativity be taught?

The new essays that comprise The Philosophy of Creativity take up these and other key questions and, in doing so, illustrate the value of interdisciplinary exchange. Written by leading philosophers and psychologists involved in studying creativity, the essays integrate philosophical insights with empirical research.

Elliot Samuel Paul is a philosopher who specializes in the history of early modern philosophy, theories of knowledge, and philosophical issues surrounding creativity. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto and a doctorate from Yale University. He worked for two years as Assistant Professor/Bersoff Fellow at New York University and is now Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Barnard College, Columbia University. He is also co-founder of The Creativity Post (creativitypost.com), a non-profit web platform that features quality content on creativity, innovation and imagination.

Scott Barry Kaufman is one of the world's foremost experts on the development of intelligence and creativity. He applies a variety of perspectives to come to a richer understanding and appreciation of all kinds of minds and ways of achieving greatness. He holds a doctorate from Yale University and a Masters degree from Cambridge University, where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. In addition to co-editing the well-regarded Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Dr. Kaufman is author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (Basic Books, 2013). He is also co-founder of The Creativity Post.

I. Introduction
Elliot Samuel Paul & Scott Barry Kaufman
Introducing The Philosophy of Creativity

II. The Concept of Creativity
1) Bence Nanay
An Experiential Account of Creativity

III. Aesthetics & Philosophy of Art
2) Gregory Currie
Creativity and Insight

3) Noël Carroll
The Creative Audience: Some Ways in which Readers, Viewers and/or Listeners Use their Imaginations to Engage Fictional Artworks

4) Christopher Peacocke
The Products of Musical Creativity

IV. Ethics & Value Theory
5) Owen Flanagan
Performing Oneself

6) Matthew Kieran
Creativity as a Virtue of Character

V. Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science
7) Simon Blackburn
Creativity and Not So Dumb Luck

8) Dustin Stokes
The Role of Imagination in Creativity

9) Roy F. Baumeister, Brandon J. Schmeichel, & C. Nathan DeWall
Creativity, Consciousness, and Free Will: Evidence from Psychology Experiments

10) Elizabeth Picciuto & Peter Carruthers
The Origins of Creativity

11) Margaret Boden
Creativity and Artificial Intelligence: a Contradiction in Terms?

VI. Philosophy of Science
12) Dean Keith Simonton
Hierarchies of Creative Domains: Disciplinary Constraints on Blind-Variation and Selective-Retention

VII. Philosophy of Education (& Education of Philosophy)
13) Berys Gaut
Educating for Creativity

14) Alan Hájek
Philosophical Heuristics