“There is no need to reinvent the wheel” – a cliché, often told when you want to come up with something new that in someway can be connected to something that already exist. This study shows the opposite – that inventions emanate from what is given. It can be a detail, a problem in a thing - a wheel - or a situation that catches the inventor’s attention. It is something that seeks a solution or something that generates an idea, a hint or a clue of something new and useful. The art of invention emerges from the ability and skill to broaden the seeing and put thinking, substance and tradition into motion. An old radio dial generates a new ergonomic steering wheel. The connection of memories between a chestnut, a cello and an early morning at a water pump creates three works of art.

The epistemology of this study is based on a dialogue between voices from different times and traditions. Some voices are normative examples, drawn from a dialogue between Swedish inventors. The others are those of philosophers from the Age of Enlightenment, fetched from their original writings. Through that dialogue, perspectives and ideas of inventors and classical philosophers meet and are compared. A deeper understanding thus emerges that shows the essence of invention and in fact the essence of all creative work: i) Freedom – in thought and in action ii) Dialogue - to test and try new ideas and things in the ever changing circumstances. iii) Doubt - not taking established fact and assumptions for granted iv) Action – testing and breaking established praxis and rules. The study also illustrates the need for an alternative scientific form and expression concerning studies in the fields of invention, innovation and other practical work. Invention can not be captured or shaped by exact measurements, concepts, definitions or abstract models. It takes place in the borderland between fact and fiction, where technique, aesthetics and philosophy are one working entity. The strive for knowledge is endless and without limits and it is nurtured by wondering, searching and ambiguity.

With inspiration from the dialogue seminar method used within KTH Advanced Programme in Reflective Practice – this study point out the actuality and vitality in using the classical philosophical writings, dialogue and analogical thinking as a scientific method within higher education.