Bio-Psychological Perspectives

Abstract

Individual-based notions of creativity are buried deep within the Western Greco-Roman Judeo-Christian intellectual tradition. They are exemplified in the myths associated with ideas of genius (Sawyer 2006, pp. 18–27), and it can be seen, for example, that these myths informed early work on creativity by figures such as Lombroso and Freud. The central narratives implicitly held in these intellectual traditions draw in some instances on notions of the muse and a belief in god-like powers and have led to an idea of creativity that is metaphysical and at times mystical in basis. They have become associated with a self-expressive, freely thinking individual genius, a conception that has led in some quarters to the idea of the quasi-neurotic compelled through various states of creative agony to starve in their artist’s garret.