An important distinction arises in the discussion of exceptional applications, namely, the distinction between creative and ethical acts. The distinction is that one (creativity) has a material impetus, while ethics has an abstract impetus. If we accept this distinction, we can observe that ethical problems emerge because of material solutions, and creative problems emerge because of abstract problems. In this way, ethics and creativity are as diametrically opposed (and paradoxically, just as related) as the material and the abstract, and just as diametrically opposed and as related as problems and solutions. If the terms ‘ethical’ and ‘creative’ are exclusive in the same manner as the material and the abstract, which is in turn exclusive in the same manner as a problem and a solution, then the conclusion is that (speaking coherently), every problem has a pragmatic solution, so therefore, everything ethical has a solution in creative practicality, and everything creative has a solution in practical ethics.
Intention and Architecture, by Carolyn Fahey
8 years ago