Abstract

Paul Weiss systematically maps creativity in its many manifestations—creative ventures in the arts, in mathematics and the sciences, in moral development, in social movements, and in government. A truly creative work arises from a combination of factors. Weiss argues that among these factors are two kinds of ultimates, one of which he calls the Dunamis, an absolute ground of being of sufficient complexity to warrant an appendix of its own. The other ultimate is divided into five conditions (voluminous, rational, stratifying, affiliating, and coordinating), each of which is primarily operative upon one of the five kinds of creative ventures. Weiss traces the ways these ultimates are combined with the creator’s individual being and with the obdurate material at hand as the creator strives toward a creative ideal. The result is the rare, truly creative venture sustaining human existence.