Comparative analysis the art and aesthetics experience from the point of view Dewey and Broudy

Background and Objectives: The present study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of John Dewey's and Harry Broudy's views on art and aesthetic experience. Dewey, through his book Art as Experience (1934), introduced aesthetics into education and regarded art as the fullest manifestation of experience. Broudy, with works such as Enlightened Cherishing (1972), considered aesthetic experience as intrinsic to human nature. Despite their theoretical emphasis, educational systems have neglected these capacities. To date, no independent comparative study has examined the views of these two philosophers. The main research question is: What are the types, elements, and dimensions of art and aesthetic experience from Dewey's and Broudy's perspectives? Research Methods:The study employed a qualitative content analysis method with a comparative-interpretive approach, utilizing a theoretical framework of phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty) and hermeneutics (Gadamer). Data were collected from written texts related to their views and analyzed in five steps. Findings: The findings revealed that Dewey defines art as a quality of activity and the fullest manifestation of experience, categorizing it into folk, technical, visual, and performance arts. Broudy, in contrast, focuses on instances of art (primarily visual arts) and divides art into popular and serious. The dimensions of aesthetic experience according to Dewey include unity, qualitative self-awareness, feeling, expression, and imagination, while Broudy identifies sensory, formal, and expressive dimensions. Hermeneutic analysis showed that Dewey's approach is rooted in pragmatic presuppositions, whereas Broudy's is grounded in realist–neo-Kantian presuppositions. The two philosophers share commonalities at three levels: contextualism, emphasis on sensory perception and imagination, and the social function of art. Their differences can be explained across four axes: ontology, epistemology, axiology, and the role of art. Dewey is closer to the phenomenological–hermeneutic tradition in most of these axes. Conclusion: Dewey is closer to the phenomenological–hermeneutic tradition in ontology, epistemology, and axiology. Broudy, despite his attention to meaning, remains within the framework of Cartesian dualisms. The educational implication is that educational systems should simultaneously attend to both the experiential–practical dimension (consistent with Dewey) and the value–ethical dimension (consistent with Broudy) of art.