John Dewey, Robert Pirsig, and the Art of Living : Revisioning Aesthetic Education

This book explores the writings of philosopher and educator, John Dewey, in order to develop an expansive vision of aesthetic education and everyday poetics of living. Robert Pirsig's best-selling book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , provides concrete exemplifications of this compelling yet unconventional vision. Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Credit Lines 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Dewey, Pirsig, and the Primacy of Lived Experience 14 Dewey and Pirsig 17 Philosophy and Literature 23 Language and Meaning 30 Cultivated Naiveté 34 1. Dewey’s and Pirsig’s Metaphysics 37 Existence as Dynamic and Static 37 Situations and the Habitual Body 46 Continuity and the Reflex Arc Concept 52 Quality and the Ancient Greeks 56 The Quest for Certainty 67 2. Metaphysics at Work 76 Naturalistic Metaphysics 77 Values, Evaluation, and Philosophy 83 Pirsig’s Value Hierarchy 97 3. Dewey’s and Pirsig’s Aesthetics 105 AnExperience 106 Art and Everyday Affairs 110 The Intractability of Art 120 The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 128 4. Pragmatist Aesthetics and Romanticism 146 Natural Supernaturalism and the Commonplace 148 Expression 165 Expression and Imagination 169 Organic Unity 177 5. The Poetics of Cultural Renewal 182 Emersonian Pragmatism and the Skeptical Impulse 183 The Ancient Mariner 192 Working with Language 198 Cultural Renewal and the Mountain 202 Individuality and Sociality 211 6. The Poetics of Personal Renewal 219 The Emergent Poetic Self 220 Emersonian Perfectionism 224 Narrative in Dewey’s Poetics of the Self 232 Personal Renewal and the Mountain 245 7. Learning and Teaching Art as Experience 261 Quality and Context 263 Unified Activity 269 The Space of Something, Perhaps 276 A Single Ordinary (Extra-Ordinary) Brick 281 Conclusion 286 Notes 289 Bibliography 306 Index 312 Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction: Dewey, Pirsig, and the Primacy of Lived Experience....Pages 1-23 Dewey’s and Pirsig’s Metaphysics....Pages 24-62 Metaphysics at Work....Pages 63-91 Dewey’s and Pirsig’s Aesthetics....Pages 92-132 Pragmatist Aesthetics and Romanticism....Pages 133-168 The Poetics of Cultural Renewal....Pages 169-205 The Poetics of Personal Renewal....Pages 206-247 Learning and Teaching Art as Experience....Pages 248-275 Back Matter....Pages 276-307