CREATIVE or ARTISTIC LICENSE involves a departure from accuracy or precision in order to communicate a new idea or to state an idea in more familiar or more effective terms. This can range from a departure from the mere rules of grammer and syntax through a profound “reinterpretation of cherished beliefs or previous works.” (outlined at Wikipedia). Can we consider this a version EPOCHE as phenomenologists use the term?
(FREEDOM is RELATIVE: the level we find suitable for ourselves is to be found somewhere in the thicket we must navigate between the specifics (such as percepts) and the generalities (such as concepts)? This resonates with the ongoing need to reconcile THE LETTER of the LAW and THE SPIRIT of the LAW: where do specifics coalesce into the GIST. It seems to emerge from the duality that co-constitues our thougts and actions where do TOP-DOWN (cerebral) and BOTTOM-UP (sensory) processing meet. Are not all generalites rooted in prior specifics? Is not all innovation rooted in tradition? This is Thomas Kuhn’s famous “essential tension.”)
Amongst the mantras of art theory and criticism is “the willing suspension of disbelief“ … allowing the perceptions of reality at the moment, even if unproven and possibly illusory, to stand in for something else thought to be more valid, authentic, “true.” In a sense, everything that has come before a creative insight or innovation is an enabling scaffold: a temporary structure that enables a more permanent structure.
OF COURSE we build on and borrow … but at what point does the work of those who precede and surround us–need to be specifically identified? What about bias? or “cultural climate?” when does borrowing become “actionable”? A Legal issue? see more
EXAMPLE: listen to Glenn Gould introduce Beethoven as a metaphor for creativity as he bridges classicism and romanticism, then listen to his performance of Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor op. 31/2 “The Tempest” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPDBcdDGrnE )
Does this raise issues of freedom to PARODY or even to create an artistic HOAX ? Read about UT's CENTAUR of VOLOS.
HOW is This related to issues of authenticity, authority, and attribution: aspects of the story you wish to tell--the message of your work of art... considering this may help the artist come to grips with his/her own motives as well as the audience's reasons for appreciating it.
Creative reconfiguring the knowledge we have in the light of new knowledge is the way scientists approach truth: by subsequent approximations, each story with (hopefully) less error than the one before is told.
And often consciously (or not) implementing epoche: researchers often set aside beliefs or biases that interfere with moving ahead with new ideas. [visit the A&O link to epoche]–they can explore a new idea with more confidence and then revisit the older beliefs that might have impeded on their progress.
So we may gradually approach TRUTH–or at least the truth we are able to understand, or at least “true enough” to provide sufficient confidence to undertake actions that support our meeting of biological needs.
Is there a question about how TRUTH articulates with FREE WILL? Take a look at an overview of the FREE WILL DEBATE (FOR EXAMPLE, in the conscious exercise of will, do we need more confidence ?)
