Rewarding Creativity in Law, Economics and Literature

• Author: Maurizio Borghi
• Position: Research Fellow at the Bocconi University of Milan and Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley.
• Pages: 54-63

54 ANCILLAIURIS(anci.ch)2006:54Article

Summary1

(1)Everyonehastherightfreelytoparticipateinthecultural

lifeofthecommunity,toenjoytheartsandtoshareinscien

tificadvancementanditsbenefits.

(2)Everyonehastherighttotheprotectionofthemoraland

materialinterestsresultingfromanyscientific,literaryor

artisticproductionofwhichheistheauthor.

Article27oftheUniversalDeclarationofHumanRights

(1948)statestwoprinciplesthattodayseemtobeuniversallyac

cepted.Civilsocietybringsthemuponeveryoccasion.Allgov

ernmentsbroadlysupportthem.Thelegislationofallcountries

upholdsthem,forexample,intheformoffreecompulsoryeduca

tionandcopyrightprotection.Nobodywouldhesitatetoconsider

unfairastatethatdidnotincorporatesuchprinciplesinitslegis

lationandpractices.

Scientific,literaryandartisticproductsaretheoutcomeofwhat

intheWesternworldhasbeencalled,atleastsincethe18thcen

tury,creativehumanlabour,orsimply,creativity.Sincecreativ

ityisoneoftheforemostfacultiesofthehumanbeing,itisinthe

commoninteresttoprotectandencourageit.Theproblemseems

onlytobehowtodoit.Howisitpossibletomakelawsconsonant

withthissoundanduniversaltenet?Whatmeasuresshouldbe

taken?Butevenpriortothat:howcanoneorienthimselfsecurely

inthesequestions?

Inasense,sincethedawnofWesternculture,thesequestions

haveraisedseriousdiscussions.However,theshapetheseques

tionshavetakentodayissomethingnew;itistheeventualresult

ofa„revolution“beguntwoandahalfcenturiesagothatupset

thewayourhumankindrelatestoworksofartandthought2.In

thispaperIwilldealwiththistopiconlyinalimitedandappar

entlymarginalway.Myquestionis:whatdoes„rewardingcrea

tivity“meantoday?Andwhatdiditmeantbeforetheriseofthe

modernworld?

1 MaurizioBorghiisaResearchFellowattheBocconiUniversityof

MilanandVisiting ScholarattheCenterfortheStudyofLawand

Society,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley.IwishtothankAndreas

Abegg,IvoDeGennaro,andJoeRollinsfortheirhelpfuland

enlighteningcommentsonpreliminaryversionsof thispaper.

2Foradiscussionofthistopiccf.F.Ve zi n, Laquestiondeloeuvre

dart,inF.MidalandH.FranceLanord(eds.),Lafêtedelapensée.

HommageàFrançoisFédier,Lettrage:Paris,2001.SeealsoPaulO.

Kristeller,„TheModernSystemofArts:AStudyontheHistoryof

Aesthetics“,JournaloftheHistoryofIdeas,1213,1951.

Questioningtheprinciplesandinstitutionsthatregulateand

haveregulatedtherewardingofcreativityinWesternculture,

mightallowustobecomebetterawareofourpresentsituationas

regardstoart,knowledgeandlearning–knowingfullwellthat

thissituationissopuzzlingthatnohistoricalanalysisassuchcan

pretendtoshedacompletelightonit.

*

Modernpracticesandinstitutionsforrewardingcrea

tivityaretheutmosttransformationofprinciplesrootedin

Romanlawandthatcontinuedtobeessentiallyinforce

untilthebeginningofthe19thcentury.Tounderstandthese

principles,wemustrefertotheoriginalpoliticaldimension

inwhichtheyoriginate,thatistosaytheRomancivitas.

Thecivitasisthecommunityofthecives,thatis,free

humanbeings3.Oneofthehighestmanifestationsofhu

manfreedomistheexerciseoftheartesliberales.Inthem,a

humanbeingcultivateshimself,andsuchculturaisactually

itsvirtus,itsexcellence:whatdifferentiatesitfrom(other)

animals,butalsofromhumanswhoarenotfree.Theex

pressionartesliberalesbasicallymeanstwothings:onthe

onehand,thefactthatitisamatterofars,theexerciseof

whichrequiresaboveall–evenbeforeanyotherrequisite

suchasskilfulnessandtalent–freedom;but,ontheother

hand,thisfreedom–thatisthereforeaprerequisite–canbe

fullyattainedonlybyexercisingtheartesliberalsthem

selves.Therefore,anarscanbecalledliberalisprecisely

becauseitisthemeansthroughwhichoneattainsconsent

tobecomefree(liber).IntheearlyMiddleAgestheartes

liberales,codifiedintotrivium(grammar,rhetoric,dialec

tics)andquadrivium(arithmetic,geometry,astronomy,

music),representthefoundationsofeducation4.Theartes

liberalesareincontrastwiththeartesmechanicae,namely,the

3Cf.ErnoutMeillet,Dictionnaireétymologiquedelalanguelatine,

Klincksieck:Paris,4thed.,2001.Civisoriginallymeantthefree

memberofacity,incontrasttootherformsthatwerenotfree,like

hostis,pergrinusesocius.Asthelatter,namelysocius,weshall

laterseemoreclearlyhowcivitasdiffersfromsocietas.

4Theenumerationoftheartesliberalestraditionallygoesbackto

Var ro (firstcenturyB.C.)atthetimeoftheLatinizationoftheHel

lenisticeducationalinstitutions.Thecoreofthesevenarteswas

supplementedinvarious waysbymedicine,architetture,lawand

history.Later,startingfromtheCarolingianera(8thcent.),medi

cine,philosophyandtheologywereformallyaddedtotheseven

artes.

RewardingCreativity

inLaw,EconomicsandLiterature

MaurizioBorghi