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Palgrave Macmillan

A Critical Theory of Creativity

Utopia, Aesthetics, Atheism and Design

  • Book
  • © 2015

Overview

Authors:
  1. Richard Howells

    1. King’s College London, UK

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 1-5

  3. Visions and Derisions of Utopia

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 6-28

  4. Ernst Bloch and Utopian Critical Theory

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 29-43

  5. Homo Aestheticus

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 44-59

  6. Case Study: Navajo Design, Culture and Theology

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 60-81

  7. Archetypes, the Unconscious, and Psychoanalysis

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 82-100

  8. Roger Fry and the Language of Form

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 101-115

  9. From Genesis to Job

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 116-130

  10. Homo Absconditus

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 131-147

  11. Conclusion: The Republic of Heaven

    • Richard Howells
    Pages 148-155

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 156-204
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Keywords

About this book

A Critical Theory of Creativity argues that a Utopian drive is aesthetically encoded within the language of form. But coupled with this opportunity comes a very human obligation which cannot be delegated to God, to nature or to market forces. As Ernst Bloch declared: 'Life has been put into our hands.'

Reviews

“The great strength of Howells’s book is that it is, in the very best sense of the word, interdisciplinary. … his A Critical Theory of Creativity is a celebration of the human spirit and the ‘Christ-impulse’ that compels us all to hope even in the face of the inhuman. It is absolutely indispensable reading especially for scholars of Bloch who want to better understand how his ideas relate to the creative and the visual.” (Duncan Reyburn, English Academy Review, Vol. 33 (1), April, 2016)

“A brilliant and magisterial overview of Bloch’s continued importance for today’s dystopian world. Howells combines breadth and depth in his analysis to show that whilst two or three are gathered in the name of critical thought, there is indeed hope for the future of us all ...” (Slavoj Žižek, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University, and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities)

“In a time when critical and open debate about the role of religion in society has declined to one of name-calling and insult, what Richard Howells has done with this excellent book is to paint out that the intangible activities of the human animal are still both extremely important and up for grabs.” (Peter Thompson, Director of the Centre for Ernst Bloch Studies, University of Sheffield, UK)

Authors and Affiliations

  • King’s College London, UK

    Richard Howells

About the author

Richard Howells is Professor of Cultural Sociology at King's College London, UK, where he specialises in visual and popular culture, together with cultural and critical theory. He studied at Harvard and Cambridge universities and lives in London and West Sussex with his wife, the designer Sarah Howson.

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