John Dewey and the Question of Artful Criticism

John Dewey’s work on aesthetics, community, and art holds many untapped resources for the study and melioration of communicative practices. This article explores Dewey’s distinctive and pluralistic idea of criticism and argues that such a notion can be used to elaborate pragmatist rhetoric. To lend contrast to this endeavor, I develop the concept of the “implied critic,” and compare the sort of critic assumed by Deweyan pragmatism to the critic implied by Raymie McKerrow’s critical rhetoric. What a pragmatist approach to rhetorical criticism entails will be detailed by examining the variety of purposes that can be pursued by an individual in reflecting on rhetorical artifacts. Such a pragmatist rhetoric explains the notion of artful criticism that Dewey features so prominently in his analysis of ideal forms of community.