Teach Through Art

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I have always been drawn to philosophy. When you hear this, you likely think I mean that I like exploring the different ways the world works. Don’t get me wrong, I do, but the aspect of philosophy that I’ve always been most drawn to is why we turn to philosophy in the first place. 

The John Locke Essay Competition is a competition I recently entered, and the competition has various different prompts you can choose from. I chose to answer “What consolations does philosophy offer?” This prompt’s guidance gave me the opportunity to formally research why society turns to philosophy, specifically from a standpoint of hardship. I centered my research around philosophy in relation to hardship because I felt that “consolation” connoted that something negative had to occur in order for philosophy to offer some sort of benefit. If you’ve followed my previous blog posts, it’s pretty clear that I like to explore creativity’s importance and impacts, and through my research I found that one of the consolations that philosophy offers is a sense of boundless creative vision. 

Unpacking boundless creativity from the perspective of philosophy

As I thought about the different ways that philosophy contributes to boundless creativity, I found creativity present through the following three characteristics of philosophy: a rejection of society’s structure, a forever open debate, and internal drive. 

One of the first arguments I made in my essay is centered around what many consider the ultimate hardship: death. I quoted Lourdes Velázquez González, a philosopher and bioethicist, who argued that in instances like Covid, we realize as a society that there are natural limits that cannot be outrun no matter how much we try to progress scientifically and technologically. Building off González’s stance, I argued that instances like Covid remind us that despite creating systems that can help us reduce hardship, stagnant systems cannot guarantee a forever seamless life. Thus, in moments of hardship, creativity is only emphasized in order to think out of the conventional systems we have defaulted to.

As I wrote this section of the paper, I began to think about how much we really do take our systems for granted. We hold onto tradition and rather than welcoming completely new systems, we aim to revise (if we revise at all) our existing structures. We seem to be scared of change and maybe it’s a result of change’s association with hardship. 

Moving on from an argument of creativity challenging established systems, I acknowledged what many might consider a major roadblock of philosophy: the fact that the debate is never settled. Patricia Churchland, who pioneered the field of neurophilosophy, was direct in how she views the mindset some approach philosophy with: “I think scientists expect to make progress and some philosophers expect not to make progress.” While to others this may seem to completely reject the validity and advancement of philosophy, I viewed this in a different light. A forever open argument allows for indefinite time to counter an argument and build upon a philosophy without fear of reopening a debate. Boundless creativity is also emphasized in this scenario as the lack of a correct answer allows philosophers to create genuinely creative and novel ideas rather than recycling ideas out of fear. 

Finally, philosophy promotes creativity by not emphasizing external rewards. Philosophy is not a discipline driven through money; rather, I believe that philosophy is driven more internally by sharing your ideology to the world and gaining personal insight into how the world works. In the instances where philosophy does result in monetary value, ideas that provide an entirely new stance are more likely to be rewarded. Thus, boundless creativity is driven by philosophy’s emphasis on internal reward.

Connecting this to my life

As I wrote my paper and even as I reflected in this blog post, I was reminded of how clearly creativity can exist in disciplines that we don’t always associate with art. Creativity doesn’t mean that you have to create something physical. You simply have to use your imagination to create something new. 

Imagine a world where everyday, each person created something new. A new idea, product, concept, or ideology everyday would grow us each as humans and as society. What’s beautiful about creativity, and what I think this philosophy example does a really excellent job at displaying, is that creativity can be boundless. Creativity can never be limited, and a world that understands the importance of boundless creativity would see many great changes. 

To me, this type of creativity is essential to nurturing a generation that can withstand AI and learn to embrace their own ideas and abilities. To understand the power of boundless creativity is to not let others limit you, but to try to lean into the discomfort of challenging the norm.

In one of my upcoming blog posts, I will be explaining more about my project Creativity Spark and the idea of unscripted creativity; however, I thought this project really served as an example of how we can apply this idea of boundless creativity to young students. Rather than emphasize an instruction or final product, I have created a project I call Creativity Spark to design boxes of materials that contain skill guides. These skill guides are used to equip students with the foundational skills and confidence to create their own ideas and practice the concept creation part of art. 

My hope is for these boxes to inspire the next generation to let go of society’s expectations and create something revolutionary, just as I hope that this blog post will inspire you to integrate creativity everywhere you go. Do you have something limiting you? Think about whether it truly is stopping you, or if maybe it’s out of fear of change. Yes, there are many instances where it may feel impossible, but remember that creativity can never be shut down because it starts with an idea, and the only thing blocking you from your mind is yourself.