Abstract. In the current paper, the temperament typology of Ernst Kretschmer or the so-called schi­zo­thymic and cycloid temperaments are reviewed. A scientific neurobiopsychological explanation that cul­mi­na­tes in a general philosophical elucidation is offered. On the basis of the research in the area of psy­cho­logy of creativity it is concluded that creativity as a personality trait represents a combination of schi­zo­thy­mic and cycloid traits of the character, whereas, at the biological level, it represents a combination of a me­so­limbic hyperdopaminergia along with a preserved mesocortical dopaminergic function. From this per­s­pec­tive, creativity represents an adaptive evolutional function of coping with everyday problems, which, pa­radoxically, is related to the psychotic spectrum of mental disorders. Why and how creativity has led to psy­chosis or vice versa, why and how psychosis has led to creativity, remains an open question, which re­quires further research. The relation creativity–psychosis is not a random one perhaps and most probably it represents a question of the intermixture of endogenous and exogenous noxae.

Key words: Ernst Kretschmer, temperament typology, psychotic spectrum, dopaminergic function, creativity, neurobiopsychology, philosophy of psychiatry

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