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Article
A deweyan approach to the dilemma of everyday aesthetics
European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy
  • Thomas Leddy, San Jose State University
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.4000/EJPAP.2273
Abstract

Everyday aesthetics is a new sub-discipline of aesthetic theory that has only been actively discussed since the 1980s. This paper addresses what many consider the central issue of the field, called "the dilemma of everyday aesthetics." I discuss three authors who address this issue: Yuriko Saito, Allen Carlson, and Paisley Livingston. Drawing on Dewey's anti-dualist stance, I argued for a continuity between the aesthetics of everyday life and the aesthetics of art. In course of my discussion, I question such dichotomies as that between the practical and the aesthetic, the ordinary and the extraordinary, and disinterestedness vs. engagement. In my view, the dilemma is only real for those who wish to maintain relatively rigid distinctions within these dichotomies. The dilemma is only a dilemma if you think there is something disturbing about the thought that low-level aesthetic experiences are enhanced when attended to and when understood or appreciated differently by way of the arts.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
Citation Information
Thomas Leddy. "A deweyan approach to the dilemma of everyday aesthetics" European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy Vol. 13 Iss. 1 (2021)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tom_leddy/204/