| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | What is the muse in ancient Greek thought, and what does it imply about the origin of creativity? | The muse is a divine being who inspires artistic creation. It implies that creativity originates from a source outside the artist (such as divine forces) rather than through conscious skill. | | What is Plato's argument in the Ion regarding how poets compose, and what does this imply about their knowledge? | Plato argues that poets compose through divine possession by the Muse, not rational skill. This implies that artists do not truly understand the principles or meaning of what they create. | | In the dialogue Ion, Plato argues that poets are divinely possessed rather than acting out of rational skill or knowledge. | In the dialogue Ion, Plato argues that poets are divinely possessed rather than acting out of rational skill or knowledge. | | How did Romanticism (e.g., Shelley) view the creative process, and what metaphor did Shelley use to describe the creating mind? | Romantics viewed creativity as the product of imaginative genius beyond conscious control. Shelley used the metaphor of a "fading coal" that glows with an intensity the poet cannot deliberately command. | | What is Immanuel Kant's definition of genius in the Critique of Judgement, and what does his phrase "nature gives the rule to art" mean? | Genius is an inborn, natural capacity that cannot be learned. "Nature gives the rule to art" means the genius does not follow pre-existing rules; instead, nature creates new rules through the artist, producing original and exemplary works. | | Kant defined artistic genius as an innate talent through which nature gives the rule to art. | Kant defined artistic genius as an innate talent through which nature gives the rule to art. | | How does Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory reinterpret the concept of the "muse"? | Freud argues the muse is the artist's own unconscious mind. Creativity arises through sublimation, where raw, unconscious desires and fantasies are redirected into socially valued cultural works. | | How does Carl Jung's explanation of creativity differ from Freud's, and what role do archetypes play? | While Freud focused on individual unconscious desires, Jung argued creativity taps into the collective unconscious shared by all humans. Artists give form to archetypes (universal, recurring symbols/patterns), explaining why certain narratives resonate across cultures. | | While Freud focused on individual sublimation, Jung argued that great art taps into the collective unconscious using universal patterns called archetypes. | While Freud focused on individual sublimation, Jung argued that great art taps into the collective unconscious using universal patterns called archetypes. | | How does Aristotle's view of art in the Poetics directly oppose Plato's view of artistic inspiration? | Aristotle treats art as techne (skill or craft): a rational, rule-governed activity with principles that can be taught and learned, rather than a product of divine possession. | | How does R.G. Collingwood distinguish between "craft" and "art proper"? |

Craft involves executing a predetermined plan to achieve a known end.
Art proper is an exploratory process where the outcome is discovered only through the act of creation.

| | How does K. Anders Ericsson's "deliberate practice" thesis challenge the Romantic concept of innate genius? | Ericsson argues that creative mastery requires approximately 10,000 hours of deliberate practice (structured, hard work), suggesting that technical foundation, not just innate talent, is necessary for artistic achievement. | | How does Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of "flow" bridge the divide between inspiration and craft? | Flow is a state of total absorption where creation feels effortless and automatic (resembling "inspiration"), but this state is only accessible once an artist has achieved high technical mastery (craft). | | Why do most philosophers argue that natural phenomena (like a sunset or spider's web) are not "art," despite their beauty? | Because art requires an intentional act of creation by a conscious agent, which natural phenomena lack. | | What is the central philosophical question raised by AI-generated art regarding the definition of creativity? | It asks whether creativity requires consciousness, intention, and emotional experience, or if a purely algorithmic, non-conscious process can produce genuine art. | | Outline the spectrum of art's social functions from "communication" to "indoctrination," highlighting the key difference in audience freedom. |

Communication/Education: Invites interpretation and critical reflection.
Propaganda: Promotes a specific political/ideological agenda to persuade.
Indoctrination: Seeks to control belief and eliminate critical thinking entirely.

| | How does Theodor Adorno's concept of the "culture industry" challenge the distinction between free art and propaganda? | Adorno argues that the culture industry produces standardized entertainment that pacifies audiences, subtly indoctrinating them into accepting the capitalist social order, blurring the line between free art and propaganda. | | How does Clive Bell's formalist concept of "significant form" object to the view that art's purpose is communication or education? | Bell argues that aesthetic value lies entirely in a work's formal qualities (lines, colors, shapes), not its narrative content. Therefore, asking what art "communicates" is irrelevant to its value as art. | | Adorno argued that the culture industry produces standardized art that pacifies the public, acting as a form of social indoctrination. | Adorno argued that the culture industry produces standardized art that pacifies the public, acting as a form of social indoctrination. |

1. Being human6 subtopics

2. Aesthetics3 subtopics

3. Epistemology3 subtopics

4. Ethics3 subtopics

5. Philosophy of religion3 subtopics

6. Philosophy of science3 subtopics

7. Political philosophy3 subtopics

8. Social philosophy3 subtopics

9. HL extension: Philosophy and contemporary issues3 subtopics

10. Prescribed philosophical texts12 subtopics

IB Philosophy 2.1.2 Creativity Flashcards