John Dewey's art as experience: A treatise on the art of living.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

John Dewey's theory of art is complex and far reaching, yet its thesis can be stated succinctly: Art and aesthetic experience are continuous with the ordinary processes of human life. Traditional theories of art, however different in their emphases, institutionalize the separation of art and ordinary life by hoisting art on a pedestal. This conceptual separation influences our attitudes, perceptions, and activities and diminishes the quality of our lived experience.
Dewey argues that a new approach is needed because simply modifying or recombining received theories of art does not eliminate the gap that has been created. The view that Dewey develops shows that the aesthetic is no intruder from outside human experience, but is the result of the human sensori-motor interaction with the material of the human environment. The “work of art” is the process of the making and doing and the “art object” is the manifestation of this artistic process. When this is understood, there is no separation.
Once art and ordinary experience are conceptually reconnected the question arises, how can there be this continuum and yet also a distinct category of “fine art?” The claim that there remains a separate category of art associated with the highest form of aesthetic experience creates a tension in Dewey's theory. I resolve this tension by introducing a new approach to categorizing art.
In the first chapter, I introduce the problem of the separation of art from life and present a formalist theory as example of the separation that traditional theories take for granted. I explicate what Dewey means by experience in the second chapter and in the third I explain aesthetic experience. In chapter four, I present Dewey's conception of “fine art” and set the stage for introducing some critical responses to Dewey's theory in chapter five. In chapter six, I introduce a new approach to categorizing art. In the concluding remarks, I summarize the discussion and suggest that once we understand the category of art differently, we can understand how the highest degree of aesthetic experience connects to and influences our everyday interactions in ways that enrich our lives.