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explains the astonishing formal extravaganzas of what is otherwise a
very ordinary and conformist art. Freedom of creation does not guar–
antee genius ; it is merely the fertile soil from which genius has a
chance of springing. When that freedom does not exist, however, it
is practically certain that genius will not flower. For in the domain of
creativity, it is essential that man throw himself wholly, with his con–
scious and his unconscious mind, with his rational faculties and his
irrational turmoil, toward the unknown. Only the work that is born
of human totality, and involves not only skill but moral daring , is
likely to transcend the barriers of time and place. This rarely occurs
in those repressive cultures, whether religious or ideological, in which
because of external policing (censorship) or internal (self-censorship),
the creator must exercise a systematic, rational vigilance over what–
ever he writes , so as not to cross the limits of what is tolerated.
In spheres as far distant from literature as artisanry and com–
merce, the eruption of freedom through a conjunction of circum–
stances and factors - none of which obeyed a decision on the part of
those who wielded power or those who suffered under it-likewise
produced changes just as far-reaching in the life of society as those
proceeding" in the world of intellect and sensibility, from the greatest
artistic creations . To confirm it, we rely on a notable recent study by
Professor Fernand Braude!. In his monumental work,
Civilization and
Capitalism, 15th-18th Century,
dedicated to the study of the Western
world from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century through the pro–
duction of objects, utensils, techniques, and exchange, he masterfully
reveals to us the astonishing transformation wrought on the develop–
ment of society by the appearance of free trade and its environment,
the marketplace . As in the domain of creativity, the rise of an inde–
pendent and sovereign space into which human action could throw
itself without conditions, could as it were flow freely, in sole accord
with the interest and will of the individual as it might occur to him to
buy or sell, in order to produce or consume, revolutionized the foun–
dations of society. The consequences are the same as those incited by
the exercise of freedom in art or science: movement, progress, the
rapid development of new techniques, the proliferation of industries,
increased communication between people and between countries, the
shattering of religious culture and the growing hegemony of reason ;
and the weakening and collapse of the old social hierarchies based on
names , titles, and military function, and their replacement by new
hierarchies determined by property and economic function. The rise
of the city, the birth of an urban civilization as it replaced rural civi-
