Abstract

So far, creativity is still a mysterious feature of mental life and brain activity. Neither psychology nor neuroscience have been able to cast any light on its deeper mechanisms. This paper covers the available literature stressing the importance of unconscious cognitive processes as to creative thought. Yet, being unconscious does not entail being creative. A better framework is needed. Thus, we take into consideration James'fringe as new evidence is available both from empirical and theoretical standpoints. James'fringe allows to reconsider the role of unconscious cognitive processes so to focus on their possible contribution to creativity. Furthermore, it suggests new experimental setups that could allow the tuning of improved measurement techniques.