Art as Experience

Dewey addresses the long-standing question of whether certain subject-matters are inherently more suitable for art than others. Historically, elite traditions insisted that only heroic or noble themes were appropriate. For instance, Reynolds praised classical and scriptural history painting, while readings of Aristotle restricted tragedy to the high-born. Yet modern revolutions in painting, drama, poetry, and fiction demonstrate that all aspects of life can become art. Degas’s dancers, Cezanne’s apples, Wordsworth’s villagers, Ibsen’s domestic tragedies, and folk music all testify to the erosion of these artificial boundaries. The only genuine limitation, Dewey insists, is the sincerity of the artist’s interest.

Next, Dewey asks what unifies the arts if their subject matter is unlimited. He says the answer lies in their shared substance. Each work emerges from an initial qualitative whole—an enveloping “mood” or background—out of which discriminated parts develop. Quoting Schiller, Dewey notes that before clear ideas take shape, the poet experiences a “musical mood of mind” (192). This pervasive quality, emotionally intuited, fuses parts into a living whole. While this quality cannot be precisely named, it animates and individualizes every authentic work of art.