Dewey’s Peircean aesthetics: An exegesis and its upshot for sociology

Abstract

Pragmatist-informed work in sociological theory ritualistically references John Dewey (1859–1952), among others, as a foundational pragmatist theorist. Yet sociological theorists have barely scratched the surface of what philosophers who specialize in Dewey’s work such as Thomas Alexander and Richard Shusterman see as central to his thought, namely, his aesthetics. While in recent years some have drawn attention to Dewey’s aesthetics, this area of his work remains little known within sociology. Even less known is the extent to which Dewey’s aesthetics bears significant resemblances to the thought of Charles S. Peirce (1839–1914). I offer an exegesis of Dewey’s aesthetics, underscoring the roles of quality, emotion, and continuity in it and in Peircean thought alike. Understanding Dewey’s aesthetics in a Peircean key, I argue, calls for shifting theoretical attention from how people “problem solve” to get what they want or engage in “creative action” to transcend their situational constraints, to when, why, and how people, including sociologists ourselves, might engage problematic situations as mediums for transformation, as aesthetic experiences in potential. Further, it brings into focus the importance of potentiality for sociological research.