The Creative and the possessive impulses
Media
Part of Panorama
- Title
- The Creative and the possessive impulses
- Creator
- Russell, Bertrand
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1968
- Subject
- Possessiveness.
- Creative ability.
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- THE CREATIVE AND THE POSSESSIVE IMPULSES The greater part of human impulses may be divided into two classes, those which are possessive and those which are constructive or creative. Social institutions are the garments or embodiments of impulses, and may be classi fied roughly according to the impulses which they embody. Property is the direct expres sion of possessiveness; science and art are among the most direct expressions of creative ness. Possessiveness is either defensive or aggressive; it seeks either to retain against a robber, or to acquire from a present, holder. In either case, an attitude of hostility toward others is of its essence. It would be a mistake to sup pose that defensive posses siveness is always justifiable, while the aggressive kind is always blame-worthy; where there is great injustice in the status quo, the exact opposite may be the case, and ordi narily neither is justifiable. . . The creative impulses, un like those that ar^ possessive, are directed to ends in which one man’s gain is not another man’s loss. The man who makes a scientific discovery or writes a poem is enrich ing others at the same time as himself. Any increase in knowledge or good-will is a gain to all who are affected by it, not only to the actual possessor. Those who feel the joy of life are a happiness to others as well as to them selves. Force canjiot create such things, though it can destroy them; no principle of distributive justice applies to them, since the gain of each is the gain of all. For these reasons, the creative part of a man’s activity ought to be as free as possible from all public control, in order that it may remain spontaneous and full of vigour. The only function of the state in regard to this part of the individual life should be to do every thing possible toward provid ing outlets and opportunities. — Bertrand Russell in Politi cal Ideals.