In Their Own Words

This book provocatively integrates the writings of philosopher John Dewey (founder of the Laboratory School and U of C professor of philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy, 1894-1904) and popular author Robert Pirsig to develop a new and expansive vision of aesthetic education. With a narrative context and concrete examples provided by Pirsig's best-selling book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, David Granger uses Dewey's works to demonstrate the personal and cultural value of learning to cultivate the art of experience as part of an everyday poetics of living. He argues that aesthetic experience is, for Dewey, paradigmatic of learning and growth. Though, rather ironically, Pirsig never mentions Dewey in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Granger's book demonstrates that there are some strong and illuminating parallels between the two thinkers. Granger's approach is highly interdisciplinary throughout, drawing on philosophy, the arts, literature, literary criticism, and the social sciences.