Creativity and the Pursuit of Excellence

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In this lecture we investigate Richard Taylor's idea, building on the thought of Aristotle, that personal excellence is best attained through the cultivation of one's capacity for creativity.
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[mkwarlock]

This is PURE GOLD.
You have my eternal gratitude, good sir..

[LaDedinDu]

To the owner of this channel, i cannot thank you enough for your videos. The amount of work you put in it shows through the high quality content, rarely equaled on Youtube. Your videos accompany me and many others during our journey into self-improvement and have helped a lot. Kuddos and please, keep up with your own pursuit of excellence !

[TimBitten]

This video stirs inside me a great debate. On the one hand, those I have most admired have always been the creative rebels, and those I've abhorred becoming like were the average automatons. Even so, I hold in high esteem the Zen philosophy, which seems to reject, to some degree, the value in becoming a slave TO creative pursuits. ("Eat when hungry, sleep when tired--this is Zen.) Still, it takes a certain creative genius even to formulate such things as the wonderful Zen "koan" verses meant to lead the adherent to understanding without directly imparting the same, which diminishes the revelation. Perhaps the best balance of it all would be to create when creative, obey when acceptable, and minimize harm to all--more of a Kantian twist. All I am absolutely certain of is that nihilism is a declaration of defeat, and that hardly anyone will read a comment like this on YouTube. :)

[Dan-udhz]

“Man's greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.”
― Frederick Douglass

[EccentricFoxhole]

I'm glad you do this, man. I learn a lot from you because you are clear, direct, and summarize important ideas from the many philosophies you evaluate. A lot of your videos are very informative and enlightening but this one in particular is inspirational to me. 

[SeanTheDon]

I love the point about creating yourself. We too often think of creativity as something ephemeral that only a few possess, yet this video perfectly explains the importance of ‘Creating Yourself’

[gabrielneedhampotts]

I have never once regretted clicking on one of your videos, they are truly inspiring

[CJ-ycon]

I rarely comment on any video, but for this one I have to give you a big "Thank you". Much appreciation from The Netherlands. Keep up the great work!

[mystikall]

Best channel I've stumbled upon in my years on YouTube

[pavanyallabandi]

This 8 year old video beats all the other self help channels I've watched
Kudos to you mate !

[jamesks]

GOD I WISH I HAD HEARD THIS WHEN I WAS YOUNG....I HAVE LIVED MUCH OF AS AN OUTSIDER....AND STRUGGLED WITH I FEEL I AM ON THE RIGHT PATH FOR MY LOVE THIS!

[johnhoward]

"This" video was extremely helpful to me. I retired five years ago and I have struggled with that part of me that says, just sit down and watch tv and snack, that's what retirement is about, and the part of me that says, "no" I want more. I don't want my remaining years to be spent watching tv and playing video games. You've helped me identify the two warring parties. The pursuit of pleasure vs the pursuit of excellence. "This" will help me greatly. And I like that the idea of greatness is "not" fame and fortune, but whatever goal you set for yourself. Excellent. God bless. :)

[crusoevanfloyd]

I feel so comforted that all my ideas that I had developed on my own, during my youth are all unoriginal. and have already been written down or explained between thousands to 90 years earlier than when I thought of them.

[erickguz]

54 years old and grinding. This is a wonderful video. Quite motivating.

[chentemccarthy]

Great video, well put together. The Carl Jung quote - "if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself" - is on the money.

[LonleyBoy]

Oh my, how good it feels to be reminded of the beauty and power of philosophy! It has the power to move mountains...

[Tschoo]

I feel so empowered and good about my philosophy major now...

[satnamo]

Without love
There is no joy.

Without joy
There is no creation.

Without creation
There is nothing.

Therefore, love is de force of creation.

If I have nothing to create
Then create my self as a work of art.

[secondsin]

This channel is pure brilliance! Content like this should be compulsory at schools even if it was just to elicit discussion and to get students to think about the virtue (of lack of) of different ideas 💡

[sonnyanddelites]

It’s rational to do what you must to stay alive, creativity is for some the only way to do so. Rational creativity is balance.