Blog #8: Can Humans be Creators, or just subcreators?

 As we discussed several philosophical theories throughout the course, the topic of Creation and subcreation was something that really stood out to me- it ended up being the topic of my research paper as well. While this topic has many branches, the most important question was what each term meant. Although the meanings are similar, it makes a huge difference in the conversation of existence and how we perceive our own influence as human beings.

Creation can be a broad term, but through this context it represent the ability to create the existence of something out of nothing. While we can say that art or literature can make us a Creator, that is not necessarily the case- there needs to be something we use to base the art or literature from, and we cannot create if we don't exist in the first place. Therefore, it can be said that God is the only creator because nothing else would exist without us being created in the first place.

This is also the basis of subcreation. Anything created by humans or other (mortal) living beings is a subcreation. Unless a being can create life and existence out of nothing, then they cannot be a true Creator. With this term being using often in Tolkien and Lewis' writing, it uses subcreation to be the link between the primary and secondary world too. Overall, while these are a few differences between creation and subcreation, both hold a strong importance in our life. If it wasn't for subcreation, the creation of our lives wouldn't be beneficial in the first place.

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