This chapter discusses the elusive meaning of ‘inspiration’, and considers what it might feel like, the situations where it might occur, and how to harness and understand it when it does. It finally explores the idea of ‘happy accidents’ and thinks about the relationship between habit and practice as active methods of inspiration in contrast to the more passive Romantic notion of divine intervention.

This chapter develops a theory of Homeric creativity that is informed by both contemporary cognitive studies and by ancient ideas about poetic craft and divine inspiration, as seen through the lenses of archaic poetry and Plato’s Ion. Sections 1-2 survey the conceptions of the poet as a craftsman vs. divinely inspired in Homer, Hesiod, Archilochus, Pindar, Democritus, and Plato. Section 3 introduces the modern study of creativity in the field of cognitive psychology, the study of jazz improvisation, and the concept of flow. Section 4 introduces the neuroscience of improvisation, including recent fMRI studies on jazz and lyric improvisation. The results of these studies (pointing to a state of hypofrontality when carrying out complex improvisational tasks) are compatible with some ancient ideas on creativity and inspiration (such as the idea that an external source - like the Muses- might be involved in these creative acts).

Young Black changemakers identified many factors and influences that sparked their journeys into changemaking. In this chapter, we emphasized three salient launching points: (1) Influential people across many contexts and who ranged from personally known to nationally recognized serve as models, encouragers, recruiters, and inspirations for young Black changemakers; (2) The promise of fun and social interactions get young people in the door, where they build deeper connections and have a cascade of meaningful experiences; (3) Youth’s own agency leads them to decide to become changemakers and seek out changemaking opportunities that enable them to pursue passions and chart their own trajectories. Our description of these three launching points builds on our prior discussions of experiencing racism and developing Black identity in Chapters 3 and 4 that also spark changemaking.

The mystic and hermit Richard Rolle (d. 1349) claimed the authority to interpret biblical texts, to add his understandings of their meanings to the received and authoritative interpretations of the Fathers of the Church. This chapter takes up the question of how Rolle understood his own authority as an exegete and how his various explorations of this topic, across his many writings, in Latin and Middle English, compare to the theories of his contemporaries in Oxford and Cambridge, their understandings of how scholastic exegetical authority relates to the inspiration enjoyed by patristic interpreters and, ultimately, to the authors of the Bible itself. Rolle’s theoretical musings have much more in common with this scholastic material than has previously been appreciated, putting pressure on unfortunately persistent binaries of the devotional, affective or mystical, on the one hand, and, on the other, the scholastic or intellectual traditions of medieval Christianity.

Cheryl Foster examines Schopenhauer’s theory of genius, which she situates within a politics of knowledge. Many of our dominant social institutions devalue the arts which are overlooked as potential sources of knowledge. Foster argues that Schopenhauer (despite his own strong resources of bigotry) is in a position to address this injustice by making an argument for the distinction between talent and genius, or conceptual and intuitive understanding, and making a strong argument for the significance and distinctiveness of aesthetic, intuitive cognition. Foster looks carefully at Schopenhauer’s description of the experience of artistic inspiration, the receptivity distinctive of genius that enables artists to create aesthetically significant works. She finds that Schopenhauer has unexpected confirmation in the account Edith Wharton gave of her own artistic process. To realize the potential of Schopenhauer’s analysis, we need to free him from some of his reactionary investments, such as his anti-Semitism, misogyny, elitism, and mystifications. Foster carefully reconstructs a theory of genius and intuitive cognition that is both free from these elements and consistent with the phenomenology of artistic experience as reported by practicing artists. The result is a useful and accurate account of a vital source of nonconceptual knowledge.

This chapter investigates Plato’s thoughts on poetic creativity by tracing a path from a traditional divine inspiration view to a new kind of inspiration, which transforms the poet into a philosopher. The path begins with divine inspiration in the Ion, then turns to the power of public poetry in the Gorgias. Next is the beginning of a new conception of poetic creativity in the Symposium. By considering poetry as a kind of communication between a lover and the beloved, Plato views poetry as a basis for a philosophical ascent to the Form of Beauty. In the Republic, Plato emphasizes further the power of poetry by classifying traditional poetry as a degraded kind of imitation. He highlights its power to corrupt the listener by strengthening irrational emotions. In the Phaedrus, Plato extends his notion of poetic creativity to linguistic communication in general, thereby developing further his notion of philosophical communication as a creative force generated by love. In the end, Plato pulls together both his denunciation of traditional poetry and his new conception of poetic creativity by offering a new type of public poetry in the Laws, consisting ultimately of his own body of laws.

Empathy and dissociation form a paradoxical and dynamic fusion of opposites in the creative trance. Inherently structured by its domain, cultural traditions, personal preferences, and rules to achieve excellence, the creative trance is an experience of empathy connecting the creative person with the work produced, while dissociation separates the trance state from waking consciousness. Empathy can enhance sports performance by intuiting the moves of an opponent. Stanislavski’s system of empathic acting revolutionized film and theater, and in science, Alexander Graham Bell felt he became one with his machines. Some empathic people view creativity as their children; Charles Dickens called David Copperfield his “favorite child.” Dissociative inspiration can seem to originate from a Muse or divine source; Giacomo Puccini believed his opera Madame Butterfly “was dictated to me by God.” Cross culturally, dissociation in ritual trance possession where dancers assume the identity of deities, may bring numinous experiences for both performers and audiences.

What does ‘write what you know’ mean? The bedrock of human experience is essentially the same in any age and this is part of what writers ‘know’. We bring imagination – and sometimes research – to our own experience when we write. Everything we have lived through is potentially valuable material; writing involves transforming this material. Even inspiration comes from within. The need to top up our own personal reservoir of experience. All ideas begin ‘What if…’ The importance of pushing beyond what we know we can do easily: creativity thrives when we are outside our comfort zone.

‘The magic isn’t out there somewhere, waiting to be discovered: the ingredients are in you right now, in your experience and in your imagination, waiting for you to make the unique connections that will enable you to discover it.’

Moving from the specificities of the manuscript itself to the conditions of reading and recitation, this chapter looks at when and how the Gospel lectionary was used in the Divine Liturgy, while also investigating the cultural role and conception that the practice of reading held in the post-iconoclastic Byzantine world. This presents us with a survey of not only liturgical practices, but also how reading was understood as being a process of divine inspiration, akin to being possessed, which allowed the speakers in the text to be embodied through the reader. The chapter surveys not only the classical heritage of these ideas, but also contemporaneous descriptions of chanters and recitation competitions held in Constantinople, which allow us to understand the cultural importance and milieu under which these illuminated Gospel lectionaries were produced and used.

The chapter adds to the discussion from chapter two by analyzing the roles of leaders and their ability to unleash the power of public service. The theoretical foundation for the role of leaders as visionaries and architects is examined and is complemented by a discussion of relevant empirical research. The chapter then follows two general paths to enhancing pubic service motivation through leadership. First, leaders should clearly articulate mission and vision, strengthening employee mission valence and helping them to achieve their aspirations. Further, leaders should develop leadership styles that inspire followers. Leadership styles should be authentic, but leaders can also develop their personal capacities to embrace optimal leadership strategies. Incorporating the principles of servant leadership by putting followers first and developing charisma are discussed as ways to build means-ends awareness. Leadership styles should be based around effective communication – communication that acknowledges the worth and collective efficacy of followers.

By exploring three issues which connect music with Platonic cosmology, I argue that, according to Plutarch, this connection was at the same time very important and severely limited. (1) In several passages of De animae procreatione, Plutarch compares the demiurge to a musician. These comparisons suggest a certain degree of similarity, but also a significant degree of difference between the two and, accordingly, between cosmic harmony and music. (2) Similarly, Plutarch’s reception of the notion of ‘music of the spheres’, as it emerges from a discussion in Quaestiones convivales, confirms the connection between music and the cosmos only to a limited extent. What the answers of the discussion have in common is that they all warn against excessive appreciation of music. (3) Finally, in Amatorius and De Pythiae oraculis, Plutarch distances musical experience from divine inspiration (enthousiasmos). In general, this persistent combination of importance and limitedness can be explained by Plutarch’s interpretation of Plato’s Timaeus.

This essay is an outline of some of the key terms in the classical Sanskrit tradition that can be translated as “imagination.” This enables us to map a very different yet recognizable terrain for our understanding of the concept. The essay is in four parts. The first looks at the articulation of ideas recognizably centred on imagination in the performative aspects of early or Vedic texts (1500–300 BCE). The second presents various terms that approach different aspects of “imagination,” and looks at some of the genres within which these terms were thematized. The third section surveys some influential contemplative practices in which imagination was carefully explored as a disciplined way of cultivating and expanding awareness. The fourth section very briefly considers the philosophical question of the cognitive status of imagination at least in aesthetic production. The conclusion opens up discussion about how this tradition of thematizing imagination may enrich the contemporary study of imagination, whose philosophical roots lie in the Western tradition.

Our main theoretical contribution is the concept of the ‘global governed’, which we discuss as an umbrella concept for existing literatures on post-development, post-humanitarianism and post-protection. We also contribute ‘post-protection’, an analytical lens for critically engaging with the risks of protection as a form of top-down governance, and a means to recognise alternative forms of refugee-led social protection. This chapter presents these concepts and applies them to examine refugee-led social protection in East Africa. The ‘global governed’ enables us to ontologically focus on the collective action of refugees themselves, and the ways in which they mobilise to provide social protection. ‘Post-protection’ offers a heuristic framework through which to critically examine the interaction between top-down international institutions and bottom-up refugee community organisations (RCOs). Our main empirical question is: what explains variation in the scale and scope of refugee-led social protection? We seek to critically re-examine the provider-beneficiary relationship that characterises a range of policy fields, grounding our concepts in literatures that are fundamentally about the role of power in global governance. Our theoretical contributions critique the ‘global’ while rendering visible the ‘local’, highlighting hidden power relations and unquestioned institutional assumptions, while reasserting the subjectivity and agency of the marginalised.

This chapter turns to Propertius and Philip Sidney and, taking its cue from from Cynthia as the eroticised muse of Propertian poetry, and the scornful muse of Astrophil and Stella 1, explores metaliterary themes of poetic practice. Reading the muse as a figure for ideas of inspiration and creativity, for authority and canonicity, we consider how the selected texts negotiate, articulate and configure ideas about the nature, identity and cultural function of poetry in Augustan Rome and Elizabethan England.