Scientific creativity in the language of Plato’s philosophy of love

Abstract

Scientific creativity is a hot topic of research in modern scientific discourse. The versatile works of modern Ukrainian and foreign scientists confirm this thesis. The authors of the article develop this direction from the side of philosophical research and believe that turning to the heuristic potential of platonic philosophy, in particular the philosophy of love, is productive and appropriate. Plato touches on all the main issues in the field of creativity, which remain relevant to this day. The purpose of the article is to explicate scientific creativity using the ideas of Plato’s philosophy of love. The methodology of the work includes a comparative approach, the method of analogies and historical and philosophical reflection. In the course of the study, the authors conditionally divide the scientific creative process into three stages: the presence of a contradiction, creative search, and theoretical implementation. The presence of a contradiction is the first stage of the scientific creative process. It is connected with the identification of a contradiction, which can be characterized in terms of Plato’s dialogue «Symposium» as a contradiction between Poros and Penia. The potential difference between these opposites gives rise to a creative Eros that inspires research search. In the second stage of the creative scientific process, Eros attracts the researcher with the beauty of truth, which inspires scientific search, like the image of Eros described by Plato. The beauty of truth appeals to the scientist. He falls in love with her. The scientist is also looking for true beauty and cannot calm down, he always asks questions and remains dissatisfied. The scientist passionately and relentlessly asks, he seeks and pursues the truth. He goes beyond the generally accepted framework to catch up with the truth and connect with the absolute in ecstasy. Investigating the third stage of the scientific creative process, the authors compare Plato’s philosophical arguments about the Anamnesis and grasping of truth with the stages of incubation and intuition in the creative scientific process. The authors of the article note the similarity of platonic reasoning and the theory of creativity, namely: the heuristic influence of the visual image, the birth of the result in beauty, the achievement of essence through the identification of heterogeneous constituent elements and aesthetic pleasure, which stimulates the researcher. The « chaos «of facts, assumptions, and hypotheses becomes the» cosmos « of scientific formulas and theories through the embodiment of a beautiful image. The birth of a new identity supports this process. Truth, beauty, and proportionality merge to indistinguishability, creating harmony and pleasure.