Pros and Cons of the Theories of Creativity - Philosophy Essay Example

Various theories of creativity have been formulated by philosophers to help in the understanding of the subject amongst individuals. The different approaches to creativity are enhanced through the development of the moderation of activities as explained by Vystoksy, Amabile, and Gruber and other theorists. The realization of autonomy amongst individuals is essential in the development of creativity. However, increased levels of autonomy can mislead the process of creativity due to lack of focus and direction. Creativity in an individual can be influenced by experience, attention, constraints, and challenges among others. Such variables are demonstrated differently in the theories of creativity that facilitate for the advantages and disadvantages of the concepts. The illustration of creative behaviors has been utilized in the incorporation of creative ideas as a consequence of different thoughts that should be perceived in moderation (Huang, 2017). Moderation is applicable in creativity since people experiencing more divergent thinking can exhibit irrelevant ideas making them lose the sense of originality and usefulness.

According to Amabile (2011), one of the benefits of theories of creativity is consideration of moderation in its application and development. In moderation, creativeness can be enabled through the shift of individual perspectives that allows for the development of first personal insights. The change in individual perception is vital in the development of creativity under controlled environments or manageable levels. The evidence of extremism is one of the flaws realized in nurturing creativity since it offers no connection between the ideologies and solutions in the activities (Ericson, 2012). The idea of shifting personal perspectives has been elaborated through scientific and philosophical enterprises. The notion can be expanded through different theories of creativity that facilitate for the realization of the richness of the concept by focusing one idea at the expense of others. Besides, pluralism has been exploited in achieving moderation in creativity because it will present different several theoretical aspects in enhancing activity. In pluralism, the theorists show various methodologies and assumptions that operate at different analytical levels. The critical perspectives used in pluralism increase the synthesis and interpretation of human creativity (Starko, 2017). The different philosophers provide a comparative review of the essential theories of creativity that helps in outlining the challenges, assertions, fundamental dimensions and studies, and exemplars associated with the different categories. The mechanisms will provide future directions, considerations, and developments in the theories of creativity.

The Componential Theory and Individual Creativity

Amabile (2011) addressed the concept of individual creativity through demonstration of the intrinsic motivational that resides in an individuals personality. The approach faces limitations in theories of creativity since some individuals are strongly driven their personalities than others. The reliance of creative potential on intrinsic motivation can be supported by students or employees who resort for independent thoughts to achieve a unique status or make a discovery. The social environment influences the development of intrinsic motivational factors that are responsible for the development of a persons creativity (Ratner., 2017). The relationship between creativity, social environment, and intrinsic motivation can be illustrated from scientific experiments that express the creative ability of the participants. For example, if students are biased towards completing a task to get a reward, they will exhibit low levels of creativity than those with no rewards. Such a move shows that the perception of the reward in the completion of the activity reduces the creative thoughts of the student.

According to Gruber (1981), the componential theory provides traditional knowledge on the creativity as a hallmark of creative people. Such a consideration provides a basis for examining the individual differences related to creativity through the person-centered approach that shows the personality traits and the outstanding work relations. The approach, however, appears both limiting and a limitation due to the few number of personalities involved in motivating people to become more creature or nurture their talents. As well, the role of the social environment is ignored in the componential theory in developing creative and innovative skills. The traditional theory is based on the assumption that all individuals have equal opportunities to produce at least a moderate creative work within a group, at some point and social environment. The consideration influences the personal level and rate of creative behavior appearance. The componential theory explores the significant components of individual creativity within a given domain that includes creative thinking skills, intrinsic motivation, and demonstration of expertise. From the componential model, creativity is attributed to overlap of individual skills with strong intrinsic interests and is increased when the levels of the personal components rise.

Three factors enhance the intersection of the components of creativity in componential theory. For example, expertise provides a basis for all creative works involved in carrying out a task. Expertise offers a set of cognitive pathways that are included in the included in problem-solving or accomplishment of a particular task. The creative expert should demonstrate factual knowledge, technical proficiency and unique talents in the provided work domain, like high-tech engineers, should indicate high levels of expertise to address the complicated situation in the workplace. The creativity of the employee will be based on acquired knowledge, experience from past work, and modern developments in engineering. Such a move indicates that technical skills are a pre-requisite in designing, experimentation, and interpretation of the scientific research. More so, creative thinking is a vital component in the demonstration of creative performance. The idea of creative thoughts is based on the assumption that the individuals require specific incentives to induce their performances or activity. Inadequate creative thoughts can be realized even with high levels of expertise in the development of creativity (Vygotsky, 2004). A creative skill encompasses cognitive styles used in the development of new approaches to problems, the technical application used in the exploration of new cognitive pathways.

The development of creative skills depends on the extent at which personality characteristics are associated with independence, self-discipline, risk-taking, ambiguity and perseverance in the face of frustrations, and limited social approval. The creative thinking skills can be improved through learning and practice to enhance the development of cognitive abilities due to intellectual independence and flexibility (Londergan, 1992). The same can apply to an engineer of arsenal who will rely on his or her ability outside the pre-conceived perspective to examine a new modality of addressing the challenge. The individual will have to exploit some learned ideas to build on the innovative solutions by making the familiar strange. The approach will enable the establishment of creative working styles by focusing on the productive efforts. The process of learning new things will enable the person to develop creative thoughts and abandon the unproductive strategies of problem-solving.

Furthermore, the intrinsic task motivation component of the componential theory is significant in the determination of whatever a person is willing to do in a given group. The task to be carried out is often driven by the deep interest and personal attribution in the activity (Multon, 2017). However, external factors can be combined with the intrinsic elements to provide a suitable environment for the demonstration of the creativity. Evidence shows that intrinsic motivations are primary in the development of creative skills than extrinsic aspects because it provides a difference between what a person can or not do. In task motivation, whatever a person can do is based on their level of expertise and creative thoughts, while motivation enables the person to engage his expertise and skills (Amabile, 1999). An increased level of expertise can enhance the development of deficiency in the creative skills and expertise in executing a given task. The development of highly motivated personal skills is crucial in the acquiring skills recommended for a given group. Through task motivation, the development of expertise and creative thoughts can be influenced by the social environment, strongest desire and influence in the activity. The level of intrinsic motivation can be enhanced by the manner in which the person enjoys carrying out the task but can be vulnerable to temporary changes at work in the process of undertaking the new project.

The theories of creativity are considered more diversified and complicated that makes comparison useful in the identification of pros and cons associated with each approach. Each theory has a limitation, which makes every corresponding element in creativity debatable and at-risk of obscurity or oversimplification. Through comparison and classification of the corresponding element, an individual can develop an array of fundamental theories involved in creativity that will enhance the development of reasonable dimensions in the intellectual landscape. Researchers can use the various platforms as a guideline in the development of subsequent theories and inquiries on creativeness. The differences demonstrated in the theories allow for the diverse information, which is enhanced by the variations forming part of human geniuses in history. The best work of the mind is enhanced through different definitions, conceptualization, domains, analysis levels, empirical methods, and disciplinary actions that can be used in the characterization of commonalities in creativity. Theories of creativity experience two significant orientations that address the strengths and weaknesses of each category (Witerska, 2015). The scientifically-oriented theories offer basic knowledge in the illustration of the empirical realities in creativity, while the metaphorically-oriented approaches will enhance the establishment of creative ideas.

The magnitude of creativity is useful in the differentiation of the levels while comparing the theories. The categories of creative magnitude allow for the focus and consideration of the scope that is necessary for testing and exploration of the central proposition of the theories. Various researchers have developed more elaborate thoughts and concepts on creativity with a focus on the genius levels. According to Vygotsky (2007), the experiences from creativity allows for the representation of subjective forms that do not undergo any external evaluation or personal insights and thoughts. However, individuals who overlook the creative experience for objectively evaluated products enhance the partial development creative things that under rules the theoretical frameworks. The exclusion of the approaches of the potential creative subject is likely to enhance the reinforcement of myths and misconceptions about the nature of creativity, which is considered risky in the process. The comparison of theoretical concepts of creativity can be used in the differentiation internal and external frameworks that provide a clear understanding of the scope, nature, and limitation of the theories under consideration (Amabile, 2011). For example, the essential and everyday creativity, where the former shows the ambiguous creative e...