Art as Experience

In what ways does Art as Experience challenge the hierarchy between high art and everyday life? How might Dewey’s ideas apply to contemporary art forms such as film, digital media, or street art?

Dewey often uses metaphor, analogy, and poetic language to convey his arguments. Pick three examples to analyze, focusing on how his stylistic approach reflects his claim that philosophy and art share imaginative foundations.

Discuss the role of emotion in Dewey’s aesthetics. How does he distinguish between raw emotional discharge and emotion shaped into artistic expression?

Dewey emphasizes the interdependence of doing and undergoing in artistic creation and reception. How does this reciprocal model complicate the idea of the artist as a solitary genius?

Consider Dewey’s criticism of the museum/gallery system and the separation of art from ordinary contexts. How does it anticipate debates about accessibility, ownership, and public art in the 20th and 21st centuries?

Analyze Dewey’s argument that art is communication. In what sense is art more effective than language in transmitting meaning, and what limitations does this claim present?

Dewey finds flaws in both judicial criticism (rule-based) and impressionist criticism (purely subjective). How does his conception of criticism as the re-education of perception offer a middle path, and what might this mean for contemporary art criticism?

How does Dewey connect art with democracy? Discuss his claim that genuine works of art expand communal experience. Consider how this claim might apply to today’s political or cultural climate.