paintdigi

I present to you, dear readers, the quotations of the great philosopher:

John Dewey’s

Born on October 20, 1859 in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

In 1884, he obtained his Ph.D. from the School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University

In 1890, he moved away from idealism to orient himself towards pragmatism and naturalism. He begins his fight against the dualisms that opposed the spirit and thought, theory and practice, science and the humanities …

In 1899, he published his main work on education, « The School and Society ».

In 1910, he published: (How we think), in 1916 (Democracy and education), in1938 (Experience and education) …

Specialized in applied psychology and pedagogy, this philosopher is best known for his famous school-laboratory, commonly known as the « Dewey School ». He is one of the principal educators of the new education movement.

Death on 1 June 1952 in New York.

From his book:

« Art as Experience » (1934)

..WORKS OF ART ARE THE MOST INTIMATE AND ENERGETIC MEANS OF AIDING INDIVIDUALS TO SHARE IN THE ARTS OF LIVING. CIVILIZATION IS UNCIVIL BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS ARE DIVIDED INTO NON-COMMUNICATING SECTS, RACES, NATIONS, CLASSES AND CLIQUES

APART FROM ORGANS INHERITED FROM ANIMAL ANCESTRY, IDEAS AND PURPOSE WOULD BE WITHOUT A MECHANISM OF REALIZATION…THE INTERVENTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS ADDS REGULATION, POWER OF SELECTION, AND REDISPOSITION…ITS INTERVENTION LEADS TO THE IDEA OF ART AS A CONSCIOUS IDEA- THE GREATEST INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY

THEREFORE AN EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF THOUGHT HAS A PARTICULAR AESTHETIC DIMENSION. IT DIFFERS FROM THOSE EXPERIMENTS RECOGNIZED AS AESTHETIC, BUT ONLY BY THE MATERIAL IT USES. THE MATERIAL OF THE FINE ARTS IS A SUM OF CONCRETE QUALITIES; THAT OF EXPERIENCE WHICH HAS AN INTELLECTUAL CONCLUSION CONSISTS OF SIGNS OR SYMBOLS WHICH, WITHOUT HAVING ANY INTRINSIC QUALITY PROPER, REPRESENT THINGS WHICH, IN ANOTHER EXPERIENCE, CAN BE APPRECIATED ON A QUALITATIVE LEVEL. THE DIFFERENCE IS SIZE. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY ART STRICTLY INTELLECTUAL WILL NEVER KNOW THE POPULARITY OF MUSIC. NEVERTHELESS, EXPERIENCE ITSELF HAS A SATISFACTORY EMOTIONAL QUALITY DUE TO ITS INTERNAL INTEGRATION AND ACCOMPLISHMENT, WHICH ARE THE FRUIT OF AN ORDERED AND ORGANIZED MOVEMENT. THIS ARTISTIC STRUCTURE CAN BE IMMEDIATELY PERCEPTIBLE. IT IS TO THIS EXTENT THAT IT IS AESTHETIC. WHAT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT IS THAT NOT ONLY IS THIS QUALITY AN IMPORTANT MOTIVE FOR UNDERTAKING INTELLECTUAL RESEARCH AND CONDUCTING IT HONESTLY, BUT ALSO THAT NO INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY IS AN INTEGRAL EVENT (OR EXPERIENCE) UNLESS IT IS COMPLETED BY THIS QUALITY! WITHOUT IT, THOUGHT REMAINS UNFULFILLED. IN SHORT, AESTHETICS CAN NOT BE DISSOCIATED FROM INTELLECTUAL EXPERIENCE, SINCE THE LATTER MUST BE MARKED WITH THE SEAL OF AESTHETICS IN ORDER TO BE COMPLETE.

IT IS NOT WITH PRAISE FOR ART OR WITH AN EXCLUSIVE INTEREST IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT TO THE GREAT WORKS OF ART RECOGNIZED AS SUCH THAT THE UNDERSTANDING OF ART AND ITS ROLE IN THE ART CIVILIZATION. THIS UNDERSTANDING TO WHICH THEORY TRIES TO REACH CAN ONLY BE ATTAINED BY A DETOUR, BY A RETURN TO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE ORDINARY OR ORDINARY COURSE OF THINGS, TO DISCOVER THE AESTHETIC QUALITY OF SUCH AN EXPERIENCE.