Dewey’s discussion is of interest in part because it reflects a number of common and reasonable intuitions about the boundaries of the aesthetic. I will isolate the particular criteria that emerge from Dewey’s account and identify the most plausible rationale for regarding each as a necessary condition for aesthetic experience. I will then argue that the criteria, as they ought to be understood, do not rule out everyday experiences like those I have described; and, indeed, that there are strong reasons to include such experiences within the realm of the aesthetic
