John Dewey and the Artful Life

Scott R. Stroud explores the profound intersection of aesthetics and ethics in John Dewey and the Artful Life. This philosophy book challenges the traditional Western view that separates aesthetic experience from practical activity or moral value. By examining the thought of the American pragmatist John Dewey, Stroud investigates how art serves as a vital tool for moral cultivation. The text moves beyond the frameworks of Kant and Hegel to offer a fresh perspective on how human interaction with art shapes our character.

This work in pragmatism and aesthetics redefines the relationship between ends, means, and experience. Stroud argues that the moral value of an aesthetic encounter resides in the experience of absorption and the reflective attention triggered by an art object. As a scholarly study in ethics and moral philosophy, John Dewey and the Artful Life provides a rigorous historical survey of modern thought. It remains a significant contribution to the study of philosophy and its practical applications.