Social Structure and Artistic Creativity

Abstract

Everything we do is located in, and therefore affected by, social structures. It does not follow from this that in order to be free agents we somehow have to liberate ourselves from social structures and act outside them. On the contrary, the existence of these structures and institutions enables any activity on our part, and this applies equally to acts of conformity and acts of rebellion. One of the themes I shall develop in this chapter is the relationship between social structures and individual action, and I shall argue that all action, including creative or innovative action, arises in the complex conjunction of numerous structural determinants and conditions. Any concept of ‘creativity’ which denies this is metaphysical, and cannot be sustained. But the corollary of this line of argument is not that human agents are simply programmed robots, or that we need not take account of their biographical, existential or motivational aspects. As I have indicated already, I will try to show how practical activity and creativity are in a mutual relation of interdependence with social structures. The second main argument of this chapter is that in this respect artistic creativity is not different in any relevant way from other forms of creative action.