Discussion

D.C. Creativity is a much discussed and little understood subject. A symposium such as this this may illustrate many aspects of creativity, but the essence of the creative process may long escape our grasp. Creation is to cause to come into existence something which had no existence before (ex nihilo) as the theological creation of the world, including man. Creation, however, also involves making a new product out of previously existing materials, such as designing a new gown, producing a painting, or assisting in the development of personality, as in the therapeutic process.

Psychoanalysis is a limited instrument which is incapable of creating a new out of the nothing, but it is entirely within its capabilities to produce a new and better product out of the already existing materials and resources. While Dr. Kelman takes a strict view of the concept of creativity and applies the theological meaning, nevertheless creation is not the province only of the gods, nor is it hubris to view man as a creator. In its simplest and most profound sense, only man can create, since it is he that created the theology which created the gods.

We must remember that even God created “things” as well as “humans.” Dr. Kelman's wise and humble efforts to deflate the exaggerated role which many psychoanalysts presume to play does, at the same time, minimize their potential accomplishments. He prefers to reserve the term “creation” only for major achievements and feels that the loose use of the term cheapens the whole process. I agree. Yet we do not enrich the term by denying creation as it occurs in our daily living.

Dr. Kelman seems to develop hierarchies of creativity, and assigns painting the highest. But why not literature, sculpting, woodwork, designing, music? Is it because in these one deals with things rather than people? It seems to me that his approach to the problem is an idealistic, poetic and romantic one: while trying to avoid a mystique, he unfortunately tends to create one in