在最近的文学和大众讨论中,“创造性(creativity)”这一术语被频繁使用和误用,但是它的词义含糊不清且定义不当,并且缺乏哲学和历史的论证。作为一位专业哲学家,我感到有必要对创造性这个词或术语作界定,而作为历史学家,我又对这个术语的来龙去脉感兴趣。虽然我不是一个“常规语言(ordinary language)”哲学家,但我常常愿意从由标准词典所提供的定义开始。 In recent literature and popular discourse, the term “creativity” is frequently used and misused, but its meaning is vague and well defined, and there is a lack of philosophical and historical arguments. As a professional philosopher, I feel it is necessary to define the word or term of creativity, and as a historian I am also interested in the context of this term. Although I am not an “ordinary language” philosopher, I often prefer to start with the definitions provided by standard dictionaries.