00094--Which is superior between creative faculty and critical faculty according to T.S. Eliot?

            T.S. Eliot does not agree with the general view that creative faculty is better and higher than critical faculty.  He holds the view that the creative and critical faculties are complementary to each other.  While criticism cannot exist without creative literature, creative literature cannot flourish without critical principles and evaluation.  Neither of them can exist and flourish without the other.  True criticism is the institution of a scientific enquiry into a work of art to see it as it really is.  The artist would learn much from the analysis and evaluation of his work by a critic.  Thus Eliot perceives the important role played by critical faculty in the creative process.  This invalidates the romantic notion of creation as being purely inspirational

            Eliot upholds the importance of subtle manipulation of material by an ever-vigilant judgement of a critic.  Thus Eliot refutes Arnold's contention that creative faculty is higher and nobler.  He establishes the "capital importance of criticism in the work of creation itself".  Eliot goes on to say that the "criticism employed by a trained and skilled writer on his own work is the most vital, the highest kind of criticism".  He concludes that "some writers are superior to others solely because their critical faculty is superior".