John Dewey's Aesthetic Cognitivism

Abstract

This article develops the hypothesis that there would be a kind of “soft cognitivism” in John Dewey’s aesthetic theory. To achieve the goal, the following inquiry was decomposed into four steps. In the first one, a brief introduction presents the issue of cognitivism. In the next step, it is analyzed how John Dewey re-signifies concepts, thus making it possible to formulate another theory. In the third part, the twelfth chapter of his 1934 book Art as Experience is revisited, where his position is better explained. Finally, in a conclusion, notes are made about the importance of this perspective for contemporary aesthetic dialogue.