William Butler Yeats's Life and Poetry: A Humanistic Psychological Analysis-by Devi Nina Bingham

Humanistic psychology "...sees creativity as a means of compensating for areas of the personality that are otherwise lacking" (Adler, 1956, referenced by May, 1975, & Frager, Fadimen, 1984). With this bold assertion in mind, I shall evaluate William Butler Yeat's poetry through the Humanist perspective. One may argue that Yeats is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century because of the ways in which his themes, symbols, and metaphors, as well as his fanciful, introspective manner, reveal the breadth of his personal experience and highlight the events that were taking place in Ireland at the time. However, Yeats' main goal in writing poetry was to use it to express himself—his thoughts, opinions, and longings.

Certainly, Yates sought to convert his existence into art, but not in a common day-to-day way. Instead, he used stories from Irish and Greek mythology, and the popular concepts of Spiritualism to speak for him. Yates mixed these subjects with more common stories from English literature, and politics of the time to illustrate his perspective through prose. But was his creativity “compensating for what was lacking in his personality?”

Yeats developed a deep attachment to Ireland at an early age and turned nationalist primarily in opposition to British colonial authority. He became a senator for two terms to serve the Ireland he loved and wanted to protect. His early writings included tales of mythology and mythical figures and praised the grandeur of Ireland. He thought that poetry might be utilized to inform the public, as well as to assess and comment on political events. An artist may escape reality via their work, according to Maslow's Humanist theory of creativity. Furthermore, when effort and higher mental processes are combined, great works of art are the result (Maslow, 1968). Yeats used poetry as a means of escaping the harsh reality of a world that was at war both locally, and nationally.

Despite Yeats' early rejection of Christianity, his lifelong study of mythology, spiritualism, and the occult shows a deep fascination with the paranormal. He built a sophisticated spiritual system in the 1920s and 1930s. By deciphering a mystical collection of symbols, he developed his Spiritualist philosophy, which he then documented in A Vision. His desire to discover mystical truths is comparable to that of psychologist Carl Jung, who created sophisticated theories of creativity that claim that a universal Collective Consciousness provides the inspiration for what he called "visionary art" (quoted by May, 1975). In accordance with Jung's theory, the artist is accountable for disseminating their creations to the general populace since, once connected to the Collective Unconscious, they can access heavenly regions and begin to channel divine thoughts.

Yeats' protracted artistic career began as a romantic poet. His early poems were self-reflective in tone and subject, centered on the desire for love and Irish folklore. His early poetry follows conventional rhyme schemes, meters, and romantic verse forms. The love undertones of Yeats' early poems were inspired by his failed engagement with Maud Gonne. The Adler theory of compensation makes the most sense in this situation. Yeats lacked the means to convince his muse to wed him; his several proposals of marriage were turned down, yet he persisted in expressing his passion for her in poetry. Adler's argument holds that he was so upset by her rejection that he wrote about his sentiments in public, making up for the fact that he would experience unrequited love for most of his life.

People's understanding of themselves and the outside world grows as they age. This may be seen in Yeat's poetry, which evolved from idealistic to pragmatic and straightforward over time. Yeat's poetry evolved with him. The English translation of the German word gestalt is "An integrated whole." As his self-awareness increased, Yeats discovered the personal gestalt he had been seeking in a happy marriage and becoming a parent.

We can all agree that art can be therapeutic. In fact, some art therapists don't even do any psychoanalysis on their patients, instead helping them express their emotions via their creations. Can creating anything through writing, music, or art provide the same results as psychotherapy? Does the unconscious mind have the ability to guide us, much like a therapist, so that the artist might be cured via their art?

Yeats is an example of a person who used creativity to make up for personal shortcomings. But he was politically engaged and wrote about politics, which shouldn't be viewed as a consolation but rather as a direct confrontation with the concerns surrounding Irish independence. His poem "Easter 1916" is a reflection on the British killing of 700 Irish nationalists in Dublin. Yeats was described as "an indisputably great national poet who during a period of anti-imperialist resistance articulates the experiences, the restorative vision of a people suffering under the domination of an offshore power" by Said (1993). Yeat's creative concentration had expanded to include contemporary issues rather than just his own limited perspective. It is usual for artists of all stripes to use their work to make social remarks, and some even believe it is the responsibility of the artist to do so. Did Yeats have a sense of fullness or completion known as a gestalt towards the conclusion of his life?

We need to consider the comments Yeats made in the latter period of his life in order to respond to this. At the height of his renown, the poet passed away in the month of January 1939 on the French Riviera at the age of 73, but not before leaving behind three poems that captured his lingering melancholy. A work on his involvement in the 1916 Easter slaughter called "Man and the Echo" is rife with remorse. In "The Circus Animal's Desertion," he mocks his attempt to use poetry to make a statement. Additionally, he derides his fondness for younger ladies in "Politics." In the Atlantic (2014), Jennie Rothenburg Gritz writes, "All these years later, the three poems are still profoundly unnerving. Yeats was after all an Irish senator, Nobel Prize laureate, and co-founder of his nation's national theater. What hope is there for everyone else if a man like him could look back on a career of achievements and write them off as worthless vanity?”

We may observe a prolific artist who was still secretly at battle with himself based on Yeats' own testimony. He was still consumed by the same forbidden and longed-for love that he had when he first met married lady Maude. He feels gloomy about the overall impact of his poetry and worries that his poems may have sparked the rebellion in 1916. His artistic ability was not a sufficient remedy to rid him of his feelings of inferiority. Like most great artists, he is obviously highly critical of his work and regrets his own inadequacies. Therefore, in Yeat's instance at least, his art did not exonerate the creator of the emptiness he felt on the inside.

Modern readers may find Yeats' poetry to be a perplexing fusion of mysticism, Irish history, and personal contemplation. However, Yeat's goal was always to make his secret romantic desires and longings for a better country known. According to Humanistic psychology, Yeats and other high-caliber performers like them do so for a number of reasons. They could be making up for a lack of something. They can be using their work as an escape from reality. They could be trying to get in touch with the divine. They could be communicating messages from higher worlds. They could be aiming for an "integrated whole," or gestalt. Yeats is still recognized as one of the most relatable poets of all time, despite his critical assessment of himself at the conclusion of his life.

                                      Works Cited

 Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward A Psychology of Being. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

 

Said, E. (1993). Yeats and Decolonization. Culture and Imperialism., (New York: Vintage), pp.220-239. Yeats, W.B. and Postcolonialism – Postcolonial Studies (emory.edu)

Perls, F. S. (1969). Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. Real People Press, Lafayette, California.

Gritz, J. R. (2014). The Deathbed Confessions of William Butler Yeats. The Atlantic. The Deathbed Confessions of William Butler Yeats - The Atlantic

 

Fragar, R., & Fadiman, J. (1984). Personality and Psychotherapy. Cambridge : Harper & Row.

 

May, R. (1975). The Courage To Create. Cambridge : Harper & Row.

The Courage to Create by Rollo May-Commentary by Devi Nina Bingham

 

Major themes in The Courage to Create seem to be the following questions which I will attempt to answer based upon Rollo May's book:

1.    “Why do original ideas in science and art “pop up” from the unconscious at a given time?”

Although posing this issue, May relates that it can never be entirely answered: "I realize the unfinished quality would remain, and it is part of the creative process" (p. 9, May). I believe that the process of artistic production has an element of mystery, of the unknown.

2.     “What is the relation between talent and the creative act, and between creativity and death?”

May says that when it comes to the relationship between creativity and mortality, artists want to be remembered forever. This feeling was also expressed by Mays' contemporary, anthropologist Ernest Becker, who referred to art as "immortality projects" in The Denial of Death (1973, Becker). 

Whatever the artist's motivation, the issue remains: what role does skill play in creativity? May notes varying neurology as a factor in the differences amongst artists. Just as IQ and aptitudes are neurological and genetic/inherited traits, according to May, talent is neurological, just as intelligence is. He also claims that environment influences an artist's inspiration. He adds a third factor that is neurological in nature: the ability to concentrate and maintain attention. May mentions intensity, immersion, complete involvement, degree of awareness, and heightened consciousness as other ingredients of creativity. He claims that joy is born when these components are sustained at a high degree and claims that creativity is mostly an unconscious act. The amount of production is determined by a mix of elements such as neurology (I.Q and E.Q.), aptitudes and talents, heredity, the environment one is in, and the level of attention one can sustain. Human beings invest time in raising children and creating things, including art, so that each may leave a modest imprint on the world. Also, many people suffer from a lack of self-esteem unconsciously, and this unconscious inferiority drives them to produce. I believe it is a dread of insignificance rather than a fear of death that drives many artists.  This is why spending time in meditation when one is not actively thinking, creating, or producing is both challenging and beneficial for people. It allows one to see, I am not only what I can create.

3.     “Why do the arts give us pleasure?”

Expressing ourselves offers us joy and is also mentally restorative, which is why psychotherapy works. In counseling we are free to express our real thoughts and feelings. May also mentions "creative courage," which he defines as the finding of new forms. Courage is a good, empowering sensation, which is why art is enjoyable. It's also a satisfying sensation to see humanity's consciousness grow because of your art. Expression, flexing our courage, and expanding our collective awareness are big enough reasons for artists to keep creating.

4.     “Do artists create the uncreated consciousness of the race?”

When May asks this question, he may be referring to Carl Jung’s theory of the Collective Unconscious. If one believes in Jung’s description of the universal Archetype, then the answer is a resounding yes, because art around the world reflects these common Archetypes. According to Jung, if cultures share Archetypes, then humanity must share a collective psychic and unconscious “database” which he termed the Collective Unconscious. However, if one doesn’t believe that there is a universality of Archetypes and sees it as purely coincidental, or a reflection of a common human sociology, then the question of whether artisans are producing a conscious rendering by the inspiration of the Collective Unconscious would not be possible.

I do believe in a Collective Unconscious as Jung depicted it. I do not believe it is happenstance that all cultures share Archetypes in common. It can be argued that because all of humanity originally ushered from a single genetic source, that the Archetypes are only a genetic echo of our ancient past. But the fact that these Archetypes have remained largely unchanged over millions of years tells me that this is a knowledge that all of humanity has innately that has kept our social understanding very much the same.

Lastly, May discusses the Types of Courage by breaking them down into four types:

1.     Physical Courage-Heroism and myths of survival and violence.

2.     Moral Courage-May defines this as an understanding that people are inherently valuable apart from what they can do for society.

3.     Perceptual Courage-To see the suffering of others.

4.     Social Courage-The courage to relate to other human beings with an increasing openness.

5.     Creative Courage-May believed that real art must not be a hobby, but “the creative process must be explored” (p.67, May) and this exploration should lead to self-actualization.

May is correct to say that creative thoughts cannot be foreseen; they must emerge spontaneously from the subconscious. This is both beneficial and harmful for an artist because artists, like everyone else, have deadlines. Those deadlines frequently fail to account for the time it takes the unconscious to provide new inspirations.

I've seen a link between genetics and creative skill. Musical talent runs in families, and I've seen that creative talent does as well. For example, in my own family, my brother and his kid both play the drums, I play guitar and piano, and my father played the violin. Musicality, like painting, sculpture, and sketching, may be learnt. If you have not inherited a creative talent, it may be learned if you put in the effort and writing works in the same manner. It is also something that can be learnt. However, I believe that the finest artists show potential from an early age.

When it comes to the question of why creation makes us happy, I can only think of one reason: expressiveness. Writing helps me to express profound emotions through poetry or book writing that I cannot express in ordinary interactions with others. Unless you're among intellectuals, you don't sit around talking about existential questions, philosophy, or profound sentiments in day-to-day common conversations. However, it is allowed when it is written, drawn, painted, or sculpted. Art provides a medium through which I can express myself deeply and meaningfully.

        He defines "unconscious" as "the potentialities for awareness or action which the individual cannot or will not actualize" (p. 52), or "free creativity." In May's account, the unconscious mind "broke through in opposition to the conscious belief to which I was clinging" (p. 55). Carl Jung believed in a dialectic relationship between the awareness and the unconscious (p. 55). The unconscious, according to May, "delights in breaking through and breaking up exactly what we cling to most rigidly" (p. 56). May says that when we get unconscious insights, our consciousness is already working on addressing a problem or inventing something new. "The idea, the new form that suddenly becomes present," May writes, "came in order to complete an incomplete Gestalt with which I was struggling in conscious awareness" (p. 59). May observes that these insights happen while we are relaxed and not actively engaged on the problem.

             May also suggests that seclusion is required for creation (p. 64). "In order to receive insights from our unconscious, we must be able to devote ourselves to solitude" (p. 64). He claims that when an artist is actively influenced by inspiration, it might appear to them as a spiritual experience (p. 66). He claims that people "put tools and machines between themselves and the unconscious world" (p.67), and I couldn't help but think of mobile phones and email as examples. He observes that these technologies first serve as defensive mechanisms against thinking. Such barriers, he claims, keep us from experiencing the unconscious creation of poetry, music, and other forms of art (p. 68). He goes on to claim that “Dogmatists of all kinds are threatened by the creative freedom of the artist” (p. 74).

             May suggests that "creativity occurs in an encounter and is to be understood through this encounter with its center" (p.77). He explains this by noting that to "encounter" anything is to experience it in a way that is unique to oneself. Finally, "out of the encounter is born the work of art" (p. 85). The experience gives birth to a new art form that he refers to as "symbols and myths" (p. 87).

             The degree of passion or intensity to creative contribution is vital, and May believes that younger university students lack passion and dedication (p. 88). Another factor that all artists must deal with if they want to become productive is artist anxiety (p. 93). I agree that if there is little or no disturbance in the artist's head, his art will have nothing to communicate. When he wrestles with questions, though, art is born. May refers to this "wrestling" as "passion." More specifically, I feel that this struggle is an attempt to disentangle and grasp reality. I'd put it this way: artists are on a quest for the ultimate truth. I say truth because that is what art is: a statement about the truth that lies underneath conscious layers of explanation. And it is for this reason, as May points out, that poets are revolutionaries. They are telling the truth. As a result, the political establishment does not value them. This wrestling, and the emotion it produces, results in the artist's distinct representation. 

            He changes gears and explores ancient Greece's prophetic oracles, demonstrating how their "madness" was part of their genius and how artists have been labeled as "mad." He asks, "Does the artist need a touch of madness, what Plato called "prophetic madness" (p. 113), to produce original, worthwhile art?" My response to this question is that artists think differently than accountants or mathematicians. Artists can conceive and perceive "outside of the box." They may artistically communicate via works of art what non-artists can only enjoy but cannot generate because of their non-linear, unique way of perceiving the world.

Creativity is the ability to see what isn't there. The creative sensation and urge must emerge from the formally unconscious. The artist who has opened the door to the subconscious may look "mad," or as the Greeks would have put it, "inspired by the Gods." In this sense, as May implies, artists must be touched by lunacy, which is simply the unconscious rising. However, studies have shown that mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder are associated with higher levels of creative talent (Kay Redfield Jamison, 1996). Some artists have a neurological peculiarity that predisposes them to creativity. However, because many artists are not mentally ill, their artistic troubles are caused by an ability to "tap into" or be more open to unconscious creative instructions rather than by neurology.

         Because I was a Gestalt Therapist, I took note of May's usage of the word "Gestalt." It was his idea that the unconscious attempts to complete the unfinished Gestalts in our lives, which of course it does; this is one of the unconscious' fundamental goals. To me, this is a self-evident assertion. I believe that art is little more than a person's unconscious attempt to unite, or make whole, that person's mind. Because it is our most powerful survival strategy, the unconscious is always attempting to make us healthier and happier. The conscious mind becomes disturbed and behaves in ways that are detrimental to our health and well-being, but the unconscious mind will never push us towards the detrimental. Having said that, my experience has shown me that the unconscious is highly protective, and to those ends, it will support detrimental behavior if it felt it would make us happier and protect us. Take the habit of smoking, for example. Although the conscious mind understands that smoking is unhealthy, the unconscious will encourage the continuance of a bad habit since it soothes and relaxes the smoker. The unconscious is infantile in this regard. While May claims that the unconscious encourages Gestalt, what he doesn't say is that it can "love too much" and may fail to understand that what pleases and pacifies us immediately may not be the greatest thing for us in the long run. The unconscious is terribly short-sighted, the way a child is. 

        May starts his discussion of boundaries and art with a bold statement: "Limits are not only unavoidable in human life, but they are also valuable" (p. 116). He argues that there would be no innovation if there was no battle against anything, no resistance. The first constraint that he introduces is universal: death, a physical limitation. Then he cites that another limitation we all face is the intellect being determined by genetic and environmental constraints (p. 117).

             In the world of art, limits are merely a matter of form. Furthermore, "form provides the essential boundaries and structure for the creative act" (p. 120). Structure permits us to make meaning and draw order from form. As a result, according to May, "On the one hand, when an individual insists on his or her own subjectivity and follows exclusively his or her own imagination, we have a person whose flights of fancy may be interesting but who never really relates to the objective world" (p. 122). He distinguishes two types of form: inward and outward, or internal and external. The defined regulations that the art form demands are the exterior form, while the artist's thoughts, views, and talents contribute spontaneously to the interior shape. Formalism is another term for exterior form. May makes the point that imagination transcends form: “Artists typically have powerful imaginations,” (p.126).

In general, I agree with May on the importance of form. We all have limitations; however, these should not be viewed as a sign of weakness or failure, but rather as phenomenological distinctions. Our bodies, brains, emotions, and behaviors are uniquely ours. As a result, we should not feel embarrassed by our limits because they give us a unique voice, and isn't that what artists, authors, and musicians are applauded for--the uniqueness of their expression? Individuality at work is what creativity is all about. Our constraints are distinctively ours, but at the same time, they do not define us. A person can be a terrible writer and still be a good person.

The issue with form is that it is used for comparison. It is natural for us to compare, but since we do, anyone who does not fit into the existing quo might be labeled an outsider or a misfit and become a target for exclusion. When someone's limits are seen as unacceptable, this is the dark side of form. Form is undoubtedly "unavoidable," as May puts it, and provides us with limits through which we may organize and make sense of the universe.

However, creativity knows no bounds; therefore, artists are the keepers of boundlessness. What I mean is, the artist has limitations, and structure in which to work. At the same time, it is his responsibility to rise beyond the banal, to create something that challenges limits. When an artist deviates from the conventions and interprets his surroundings in a novel way, he achieves originality. It is a challenge that the artist faces every time he decides to create. How original am I going to allow myself to be? I believe this is what May meant when he said that all artists experience creative "anxiety."

Art critics prefer formulas because they make assessing and analyzing art much simpler, which is why formulae are taught in schools (p. 93). He expands on his thesis, which may be called Art Development, or the process by which art evolves. According to him, "works of the mind exist only in action" (p.98). In other words, no one can claim intellectual property unless there is a visible, tangible embodiment of it, at the very least a prototype. In my perspective, art can only be assessed by its output. For example, words like Coca-Cola's "It's the real thing" have stuck with me since I first heard it performed by a choir and repeatedly replayed on television until it became associated with the product. Thoughts that become slogans must be linked to a physical object, such as the iconic Coca-Cola logo and curving glass bottle, otherwise the phrase loses its meaning. We need labels to identify Coca-Cola from other brands, else we can't tell them apart.

Applying this concept to art, the term "abstract" implies nothing in and of itself; it must be wedded to a piece of art, such as Dali's Surrealist representations before we can identify art which resembles his abstractions. Dali's pictures and sculptures do not make sense to the logical mind until we realize they are abstractions of reality, at which point we may embrace them. Further, they have no practical relevance in the realm of art until an art critic labels a piece this or that. Our minds require practical monikers to interpret what they perceive and make judgements. While labels may be unpleasant because they categorize and therefore restrict, the logical mind requires classifications, and hence, like a necessary evil, we must use form to classify. 

                                       Works Cited

Ernest Becker. The Denial of Death. Free Press. 1973.

 Rollo May. The Courage to Create. Norton & Co., NY. 1975.

 

A Comparative Psychological View of Creative Theories-by Carlisle Bergquist

 

A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF CREATIVITY THEORIES:

PSYCHOANALYTIC, BEHAVIORISTIC, AND HUMANISTIC

"Creativity is the step child of psychology" (May, 1975). This statement characterizes the historically difficult relationship existent between gifted individuals and society and, between science and creativity research. As Rollo May's statement indicates, the awkwardness of the relationship is apparent in psychology which studies creative products and, the individuals which embody the process, without definitively grasping creativity itself. A similar awkwardness seems to exist in the life sciences which study live organisms without capturing life itself. Just so, the creative process can be observed and described but its source remains obscure. Psychology's numerous philosophical orientations have each attempted a meaningful relationship with this "step child" with varying degrees of success. This essay will chronicle some of those attempts in three branches of psychology respectively: psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanistic psychology. Each of these branches holds a sharply different view on the nature of man which reflects in each psychology's explanation of creativity, its source and purpose.

Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalysis proposes that creativity wells up from unconscious drives. There are differing opinions about how this occurs, but the various psychoanalytic schools of thought generally suggest that creativity is a by-product of primary processes. Freud takes a pathological view of the creative process. This seems characteristic of his general view of man. Freud felt only unhappy people experienced daydreams and fantasies; these are an integral part of the creative process. Freud said, "Unsatisfied wishes are the driving power behind fantasies; every separate fantasy contains the fulfillment of a wish, and improves and unsatisfactory reality" (Freud, 1908, cited by Arieti, 1976). To Freud there was great similarity between neurosis and creativity. He felt both originated in conflicts stemming from wish fulfillment and biological drives. Creativity is the sublimation of sexual drives in the psychoanalytic depiction.

According to Freud, the creative person's curiosity about sexual matters starts at three years of age and has three outlets later in life:

"...first is repression, which is quite energetic. The second outcome occurs when sexual investigation is not totally repressed but is coped with by thought processes or by compulsive defenses. In the third outcome which is the' most rare and perfect type,' sexual curiosity is sublimated into that inquisitive attitude which leads to creativity (Freud, 1908, cited by Arieti, 1976).

Other theorists in the Freudian school have built further on the premise that creativity is part of the mental functioning operative in the id; i.e., the individual uses it to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Ernst Kris (1952, cited by Arieti, 1976) says the use of these primary processes in creativity is "a regression in service of the ego." He believes the process occurs in the preconscious, an area not momentarily in consciousness but easily accessible. L. Bellak (1958, cited by Taylor, 1988) further explains that all forms of creativity are "permanent operant variables of personality" through which the ego allows preconscious and unconscious material to emerge. Lawrence Kubie (1958, cited by Arieti, 1976) adds that neurotic distortion can occur when the conscious mind inhibits "the [creative] process by rigid use of symbolic functions." Kubie says further, [the unconscious can] "hinder with even more rigid anchorage in unreality."

Two other Freudians address the source and motive of the creative act. Phyllis Greenacre (1957, cited by Samuels & Samuels, 1975) says that the future artist learns to disassociate with real objects and falls in love with the world as a whole. This happens through a heightened sensory awareness as early as breast feeding. Philip Weissman (1968, cited by Arieti, 1976) says these capacities may be the infant learning to "hallucinate the mothers breast independently of oral needs"; later in life this endowment is preserved and transferred into the creative act.

The link between primary processes (specifically sexuality), and creativity is important. Contrary to psychoanalytic intention, it inadvertently suggests there is an energy (biological creativity), which can be sublimated into higher psychological processes when the primary gratification urges of the id are inhibited. This suggests a discrete phenomenon, creativity, that is equally operative as both a biological and psychological function. Carl Jung (1953, cited by Arieti, 1976) extends creative functioning by further dividing artistic creativity into two categories, psychological art, and visionary art. It is psychological art which appears to be generated by primary processes. Thus, psychoanalytic theory seems best able to explain psychological art and creative acts where the incentive is not the act itself, but rather relief from pain, anxiety, or sexual tension. Explaining creativity solely as sublimated sexual energy, and libidinal curiosity is, in my opinion, reductionistic and cannot interpret all its dimension. Freud himself concluded in his Autobiographic Study:

[Psychoanalysis]...can do nothing towards elucidating the nature of the artistic gift, nor can it explain the means by which the artist works; artistic technique (1908, cited by Arieti, 1976).

Behavioristic

Sublimated libidinal drives do not explain all the dimensions of creativity; however, sexuality in some form appears in many explanations of creative behavior even if only in metaphor. B. F. Skinner, a radical behaviorist, does not assign creativity to these unconscious drives; yet, a quotation he consistently used to assert the falsity of such assignment refers to this primal sexuality in life. In an essay "A Lecture on 'Having' a Poem" Skinner (1972, cited by Perkins, 1988) quotes Samual Butler, "A poet writes a poem as a hen lays an egg, and both of them feel better afterwards." Thus, "The Behaviorist" indirectly relates creativity to reproductive drives.

J.B. Watson (1913, cited by Frager, Fadiman, 1984) and others, developed behavioristic psychology early this century in response to psychoanalytic subjectivism. The basic premise is positivistic; it postulates that only what is observable is appropriate for scientific psychological study. Creativity, thoughts, and emotions are unobservable internal processes; therefore, behaviorism is unable to explore the processes themselves. Radical behavioral psychology completely dismisses the concept of an "indwelling agent" which creates, thinks, or feels as metaphysic and without proof. Therefore, behaviorism confines its study to the behaviors associated with these processes.

J.B. Watson believed that the social environment conditioned the personality and its behavior. He studied the respondent conditioning associated with various stimuli. Conditioning from the social environment is then stored in the unconscious memory throughout one's life. E.L. Thorndike (Reber, 1985) followed and formulated the "Law of Effect" which says that reward strengthens responses and failure to reward weakens them. Thorndike, and later B.F. Skinner, continued to study how these consequences, e.g., reward or lack of reward, influenced behavior over time. This conditioning is termed operant conditioning. Operant conditioning and unconscious memories are the primary elements in a behavioral explanation of creativity.

According to B.F. Skinner, creativity results from reshuffling psychic material which is unconscious to the individual and thereby only seems spontaneous (Skinner, 1972c, cited by Frager, Fadiman, 1984). The creative act, from a behavioral viewpoint, would be a cognitive behavior pattern which first accessed unconscious material and then synthesized it in the context of an immediate stimulus (problem). Then operant conditioning occurs as the tension subsides because the individual had found a successful solution. The individual may experience additional operant conditioning if other people praise the creative product. Thus as Skinner's refers to in "A Lecture on 'Having' a Poem" the artist has learned the creative response because it has the potential to make him feel better.

This accounts for some creative acts, but it lacks the magnitude to explain creativity which includes information impossible for the individual to have previously known. I believe behaviorism fails to explain works such as Handel's Messiah which is a massive volume of information created in a twenty-four hour period. It seems unreasonable to assume that a behavioral process could access and recombine that much unconscious material so rapidly and with such elegance. Behaviorism also inadequately explains acts such as Einstein's visions of riding on a light ray which led to the theory of relativity, or Kekule's vision of the Uroboros which inspired his chemical model of the benzene ring. Each of these represents man reaching beyond his current conditioning and knowledge to change his destiny.

Behaviorism is an excellent "lab animal" but in the "real world" it can not account for all creative endeavors. Its greatest strength is that experiments are precise and collect quantifiable data. However, I concur with Silvano Arieti (1972, cited in Arieti, 1976) description of Skinners work:

People like B.F. Skinner have characterized man as being molded, conditioned, and programmed by the environment in rigid, almost inescapable ways. Skinner should be appreciated for having shown the extent to which man can be affected in this manner; but...we must stress man's ability to escape his fate. Creativity is one of the major means by which the human being liberates himself from the fetters not only of his conditioned responses, but also of his usual choices.

Humanistic

My feeling is that the concept of creativeness and the concept of the healthy, self-actualizing, fully-human person seem to be coming closer and closer together, and may perhaps turn out to be the same thing. (Maslow, 1963)

The above quotation shows the esteem with which humanistic psychologists view human nature. There are many individual theories within the field but the human capacity for growth is central in all of them. Creativity is essential to growth as the individual learns, and adapts to his environment and to an inner sense of values. As Maslow's statement indicates, this is part of being a healthy human being. Viewing human nature as a conscious, self-directed, self-actualizing, healthy process distinguishes humanistic psychology from psychoanalytic and behavioristic psychology. These latter psychologies see humankind and creativity in terms of base instincts and conditioned responses respectively. They see creativity as a way of compensating for areas otherwise lacking in the personality (Alfred Adler, 1956, cited by May, 1975, & Frager, Fadiman, 1984). Humanistic psychology brings a wholeness to the human being and the creativity process. Creativity infuses all of life. Abraham Maslow (1968) describes creativity in the life of his clients as follows:

I learned from [them]...that a first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting, and that, generally, cooking or parenthood or making a home could be creative while poetry need not be...

A pioneer in humanistic psychology, Maslow describes creativity in three categories: primary creativity, secondary creativity, and integrated creativity. The first category describes creativity which proceeds from the primary processes, as does psychoanalytic theory, but Maslow includes cognitive and conative processes in addition to the Dionysian drives of the id. He separates primary processes from "forbidden impulses" believing the first to be far less dangerous. Maslow "redeems" base human nature believing that creativity allows us to escape our fate much like Arieti (1976).

Secondary creativity results from the use of higher thought processes; it is Apollonian. It takes over the creative process from primary creativity and adds to it analysis, discipline and hard work. The often quoted statement "Genus is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" seems descriptive of secondary creativity. Secondary creativity dominates during the verification stage (Wallas, 1926, cited by Koestler, 64, Harman & Rheingold, 84, & Dacey,89); it may also be the main process during the preparation stage but in a less refined form.

Maslow's final category is integrated creativity. This category fuses primary and secondary creativity: it is the source of the great works of art, philosophy, and scientific discoveries. This creative integration is also characteristic of the lives of self-actualized, healthy human beings. Integrated creativity in the arts appears to inhabit the same territory Carl Jung described as "visionary art."

As mentioned earlier, Jung (cited by May,1975) divides artistic creativity into two categories; psychological art (already discussed); and visionary art which, "derives its existence from the hinterlands of the man's mind." The second category connects us with the super-human and timeless worlds beyond our conscious knowing. When an artist, in any field, approaches this category, he becomes the scout for all of humanity. He transcends his personal fate, and begins to speak to, and for humankind. The answer is "channeled" through receptive individuals in response to the needs of the entire race. As channels of this greater vision, Marshal McLuhan, described creative people as the "dew line" for society at large who capture and express the spiritual meaning of the culture (May,1975). The collective unconscious described by Jung ties the psyches of humanity together; creativity thus includes an expression of the needs of the race, not solely the individual. Creativity in this portrayal becomes a function of the "whole" of humanity: the creative individual, the creative process, and the creation form a gestalt within the context of this larger "whole."

Gestalt psychology deals with the perception of "wholes." It was founded as a separate school of thought in Germany early this century. I am giving it a brief discussion here because of its more recent association with humanistic psychology. Max Wertheimer (1945, cited by Arieti, 1976) looks at all creativity from this Gestalt perspective. He says that the process moves from one unstable or unsatisfactory situation (S1) to one of greater stability and thereby forms a new gestalt (S2) which includes the resolution of tension. Wertheimer believed that dividing the wholes into parts without losing track of the original totality was an important aspect of creative thinking. Wertheimer also says that in the creative act the individual perceives some features of the final S2 from the beginning of the process; these features are the means through which the individual recaptures the final situation. Unfortunately, Wertheimer's theory does not explain how restructuring of S1 into S2 actually occurs. The importance of his theory is the emphasis on the process as a whole rather than as a linear sequence. To Wertheimer the creativity process was "one consistent line of thinking...[which sought] the nature of their [the elements] intrinsic interdependence."

Wertheimer, and the other models reviewed thus far, fail to grip the source of the process. They generally report the components of the process after it occurs, the nature of the product, or the characteristics of the creative individual. From where does the new solution come? How is something brought into being where nothing previously existed? We are distinctly uncomfortable with any explanation which suggests that something "just happens," yet all these inquiries leave us with these questions and no clear cut answer. When we attempt to explain creativity itself we experience one of its most telling attributes, ineffable encounter.

The ability to encounter life in its fullest and engage with that part of it which is just beyond our senses is a prime characteristic of the creative act, and individual, according to Rollo May (1975). May suggests:

For the consciousness which obtains in creativity is not the superficial level of objectified intellectualization, but and encounter with the world on a level that undercuts the subject-object split. "Creativity,...is the encounter of the intensively conscious human being with his or her world."

The above quotation describes an encounter of such intensity that the polarity of the world around is overlooked. This parallels Maslow (1963) who says that during the creative encounter the individual is self-forgetful. Thus, becoming completely "lost in the present," the individual merges with the encountered and the subject-object split disappears. May metaphorically posits that the creative individual "knows" the subject in the "Biblical sense"; i.e., presenting the similarity between the creative act and sexual encounter. Sexuality, and the union of opposites appear in many of the creativity theories thus far discussed. However, May's correlation of creativity and sexuality is notably different from psychoanalytic theory. Freud saw creativity as sublimation of sexual, and other primitive, drives. May uses the reference to sexuality as a healthy, engaging process. Creativity, like sexuality, is part of a full encounter with life: it is the "dance" that unites the opposites.

Uniting pairs of opposites is a theoretical premise of Arthur Koestler (1964) creativity theory. An author, Koestler represents no particular psychological school of thought but has done much research on the field of creativity. Koestler's premise on the creative process is "bisociation." Bisociation, a term Koestler has coined, means to join unrelated, often conflictual, information in a new way. Koestler says it is being "double minded" or able to think on more than one plane of thought simultaneously. Frank Barron (1988) also says the ability to tolerate chaos or seemingly opposite information is characteristic of creative individuals. In each of these theories, as May describes, resolution comes through intense encounter when as Maslow asserts, the individual is, "completely lost in the present."

Intense encounter, "lost in the present," suggests another phenomenon which accompanies the creative process, an altered state of consciousness. Transpersonal psychology focuses on the higher aspirations of human growth and expanded states of consciousness. Stanislav Grof (1988), a transpersonal theorist and psychiatrist, listed four categories of creativity which he feels come from transpersonal sources in his work with altered states of consciousness.

The first category relates to problems which an individual has struggled with for years without finding a solution. This category contains Wallas's four stages, and is brought to resolution by the sudden streaming of illumination during a "non-ordinary" state. His example is also Kekule's discovery of the benzene ring in a dream mentioned earlier in this paper.

A second category, involves transmission of great ideas or systems of thought which go beyond the state of the art in the field to which they relate. An examples of this is the concept of distribution of information about the universe found in the ancient Jainist theory of the jivas which resembles emerging holonomic theories of physics. Other examples are ancient cosmogenetic systems which say light is the creative principle of the universe, a theory now being explored by research into the photon's role in subatomic particles.

The third category contains creative encounters which give a nearly complete product ready for implementation by society. The mythological story of Prometheus bringing fire to earth is an ancient example. Modern examples are; the work of Nikola Tesla who saw his inventions as finished working prototypes; Einstein riding on a light beam in his imagination and thereby understanding the theory of relativity (previously mentioned); and Mozart who heard his compositions final form, all at ounce, inside his head.

Grof postulates one final creative experience somewhat different than those just cited; it is an encounter with the Creator. This experience can be transforming for both the individual and society. Examples are Moses receiving the Ten Commandments or Mohammed's vision which founded Islam. In these examples, creativity evolved spirituality in mankind.

The many theories of creativity cover a range of human experience from the most primitive subconscious drives to contact with the divine. When viewed independently, each theory is consistent relative to a specific field of human experience yet, many of these theories clash dramatically when contrasted with one another. Vaune Ainsworth-Land (1982) has examined the imaging and creative process and described four "orders" of the process and its product. Ainsworth-Land's theory is basically humanist. I will use these "orders" to relate the creativity theories discussed in this essay and thereby partially delimit the type, or types, of creative acts which each theory best describes.

First order creativity operates out of necessity. This area of creativity occurs in the learning process of a child. This order may also engage when there is an immediate urgent need such as a threat to survival. This area seems to correlate to psychoanalytic creativity theories and development such as that described by object relations (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman, 1975). It likewise relates to respondent conditioning in that it occurs spontaneously in response to immediate needs. Maslow's primary creativity is in this category. In this order there is no awareness of self, or ego, just spontaneous acts driven by primal needs.

Second order creativity involves analytic processes. The individual is self-aware and consciously involved in the project at hand. The process focuses on improvement, extension and evaluation. Maslow's secondary creativity fits this category This area also relates to higher ego functions described by psychoanalysis. It correlates with creative acts which behaviorism calls operant response; i.e., the individual is aware of their response and rewarded for it.

Third order creativity becomes more abstract. It deals with synthesizing and innovation. The product created is as much "new as old"(Ainsworth-Land, 1982). In this order the individual opens up to the process and gives up control and begins self-integration. This seems to be the beginning of Maslow's integrated creativity and the realm of Koestler's "bisociation."

The fourth order is, as Ainsworth-Land describes it, "the ultimate form of relatedness." This is the order in which Grof's fourth encounters occur. The self has merged with a larger reality and attained a transformed consciousness. In this order the individual attains "cosmic consciousness" (Bucke, 1906, cited by Ainsworth-Land, 1982) and beholds order in chaos without conflict.

Table #1 shows the various theorists in relation to Ainsworth-Land's four orders. I have listed the theorists in the general psychological school of thought to which they subscribe on the (x) axis and, in the "order" to which their theories best apply on the (y) axis. They will appear within their respective vertical columns in all "order" corresponding sections to which their theoretical work most applies as outlined in this essay. Jung's theories will be the exception appearing as both a psychoanalytic and humanistic theory.

Table #1

Ainsworth­Land orders:	Psychoanalytic:	Behavioristic:	Humanistic:
1st. order:	Freud- id Kris Bellak Greenacer Weissman Jung's Psycho. Art	Watson- Respondent Cond	Maslow Prim. Creat. May- Encounter Wertheimer- Gestalt Grof- 1st. Cat.
2nd. order:	Freud- ego Kris Bellak Greenacer Weissman	Throndike, Skinner-Operant Cond.	Maslow Sec. Creat. May- Encounter Wertheimer- Gestalt Grof-1st. Cat.
3rd. order:	Greenacer Jung's Psycho. Art		Maslow Integ. Creat. May- Encounter Wertheimer- Gestalt Koestler- Bisociation Grof- 2nd. &3rd. Cat.
4th. order:			Jung's Visionary Art Grof- 3rd. & 4th Cat.

In summary, it is clear that the various branches of psychology have different views of human experience which influence their theories of creativity. It is also evident there are common threads in many of the theories. All these psychologies see creativity as an encounter with, and merging of divergent information but disagree about the source of that information and the procedure through which it is processed. Most creativity theories, with the exception of the behavioristic ones, see creativity as a process through which the individual finds relationship with the environment. For psychoanalysis this is a neurotic function; for humanistic psychology it is a sign of health. With this wide divergence the only seemingly obvious conclusion is that the substance and source of creativity still elude discovery. We are able to see creativity's effects, feel its inspiration, and use it in a myriad of ways. As if standing in a hall of mirrors, we reflect creativity back upon itself and speculate upon its nature never knowing which image is real and which the reflection. Everywhere creativity reflects itself without revealing its true nature. Each reflection is different in its own environment yet isomorphic of the others. We "create" metaphors that describe, and theories to explain the acts by which metaphors and theories are themselves brought into being. Fully engaged we seek the mercurial Rosetta stone that reveals the common language of these many forms. Creativity may be the step-child of psychology but we are enamored by it and, as we attempt to forge a relationship with it we remain "lost in the present" and lost in the presence of a seemingly omniparous force.

References

Experience more of Carlisle Bergquist's creativity in his current transpersonal novel - "The Coyote Oak:  Burgeoning Wisdom."  Available here, at Amazon.com,  and booksellers worldwide.

 

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Article Summaries

The Coyoté Oak: Burgeoning Wisdom

Transcendental Creative Systems:

A Comparative View of Creativity Theories:
Psychoanalytic, Behaviorist, & Humanistic

Three streams of thought in contemporary psychology view our humanness is distinctly different ways.  This is nowhere more evident than in their efforts to explain creativity.  This essay explores and compares these divergent views and provides a foundation from which to develop a new transpersonal theory of creativity.

Dancing With The Whole:
A Theory of Creative Entrainment

Doorways In Consciousness:
An Exploration of Resonant Being

Building A Better Thought Trap:
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