Dewey, Imagination, and Music: A Fugue on Three Subjects

Abstract

The work of Jo Ann Boydston in preparing and editing the writings of John Dewey has been the occasion of a renaissance of interest in Dewey's philosophy. Yet little if any research, earlier or more recently, has explored his aesthetic theory in relation to music. Still less can be found concerning the place of music and imagination. This triple fugue is an effort to begin to explore three subjects that recur in Dewey's aesthetic theory found in Art as Experience.1 Before presenting the subjects themselves, it is important to examine briefly three motives that are fundamental to an understanding of the nature and place of imagination in Dewey's philosophy of as experience. These are Dewey's concepts of experience, environment, and art as used in Art as Experience. An exposition of the three subjects follows. Answers and episodic material are drawn from the writings of various composers and philosophers in augmentation or diminution of Dewey's theory as it applies to imagination in the experience of music. The fugue as a whole is offered tentatively, as an exploration, articulation, and synthesis, rather than a critical analysis, of ideas about imagination. Finally, the coda suggests implications for music education based upon the application of Dewey's theory of to music. Throughout, the applications and examples are my own; the few which are Dewey's are acknowledged as his. For Dewey an experience is the result of interaction between a human being and some aspect of the environment. He conceives the environment broadly to include other people, ideas, and inanimate objects. In an experience there is not only undergoing and doing, but a relationship is established between participants. This relationship may be thwarted or reach consummation. A unity within experience is necessary for it to reach consummation. In reflecting on an experience after its occurrence, accord-