Abstract: This essay is a study of what of general import might be said about the processes or principles of creativity in art, conducted through an examination of a thought-provoking discussion of artistic creativity by the social theorist Jon Elster. Issue is taken with Elster's account of creativity in art as simply a matter of optimizing choice within constraints following an earlier stage of choice of constraints, and with some of the evaluative consequences, both general and specific, that Elster draws from his account.

Keywords: Jon Elster, choice, constraints,