1st Edition

A Cognitive-Historical Approach to Creativity

By Subrata Dasgupta Copyright 2019
    294 Pages
    by Routledge

    294 Pages
    by Routledge

    At the heart of creativity is the practice of bringing something new into existence, whether it be a material object or abstract idea, thereby making history and enriching the creative tradition.

    A Cognitive Historical Approach to Creativity explores the idea that creativity is both a cognitive phenomenon and a historical process. Blending insights and theories of cognitive science with the skills, mentality and investigative tools of the historian, this book considers diverse issues including: the role of the unconscious in creativity, the creative process, creating history with a new object or idea, and the relationship between creators and consumers. Drawing on a plethora of real-life examples from the eighteenth century through to the present day, and from distinct fields including the arts, literature, science and engineering, Subrata Dasgupta emphasizes historicity as a fundamental feature of creativity.

    Providing a unified, integrative, interdisciplinary treatment of cognitive history and its application to understanding and explaining creativity in its multiple domains, A Cognitive Historical Approach to Creativity is essential reading for all researchers of creativity.

    Prologue

    Dramatis Personae

    1. The Cognitive-Historical Space

    2. Artifacts : The Very ‘Stuff’ of Creativity

    3. Artificers and Consumers

    4. A Cognitive Pas de Deux

    5. Knowledge Schemas in Creative Thought

    6. The Prepared Mind

    7. Dilemma of the Unconscious

    8. Preparing for Illumination

    9. The Creative Act of Production

    10. Inventing Cognitive Style

    11. The Psychohistorian’s Contribution

    12. The Making of Creative Movements

    Epilogue

    Bibliography

    Biography

    Subrata Dasgupta is Professor Emeritus in the School of Computing and Informatics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette where, from 1993 to 2018, he held the Computer Science Trust Fund Eminent Scholar Chair. From 1999 to 2013 he was also Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science. He has authored numerous works on the cognitive, historical and computational aspects of creativity.