Some visions of the world essentially preclude the possibility of creativity. Others place the unexpected and surprising at the heart of things. The social sciences and other views with which we are familiar often belong to the first camp, but there is an impressive alternative camp which also contains important thinkers. Understanding these two world views will help us appreciate creativity when it happens, distinguish real innovation from mere application, place ourselves in the state of mind in which creativity is more likely to take place, and enable the institutions and intellectual climate in which creativity thrives. I will also argue that great literature, properly understood, can play an important role in fostering this world view and that the humanities might be reimagined along these lines.