"Bethany Henning explores a rarely treated—but fundamental—dimension of Dewey's thought: the aesthetic unconscious. She does so with deep insight and nuanced care, producing a work that must be counted at the forefront of a new generation of scholarship on this complex and often misunderstood philosopher."
— Thomas Alexander, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
"Henning finds words for the wordless, touching the live depths of Dewey—and of art, love, and nature."
— Richard Polt, Xavier University
“At long last, an author pushes American philosophy toward a deep and detailed engagement with depth psychology in its most viable form (that which was defended by Paul Ricoeur). In doing so, she shows how the depths of the aesthetic unconscious, as plumbed especially by Dewey, both illuminates and is illuminated by the insights of Freud, Lacan, Ricoeur, and other psychoanalytic theorists. Far more than this, she illuminates the unconscious, aesthetic and otherwise, in the spirit of pragmatism - for this work truly unblocks the road of inquiry, opening paths of creative engagement in surprising and promising ways.”
— Vincent Colapietro, University of Rhode Island
"Bethany Henning gives us a book that is a remarkable piece of scholarship. In it, she not only recovers some neglected yet important elements of John Dewey’s philosophy, but her analysis also proves to be timely and relevant, offering insightful analyses and criticisms of America’s fractured culture."
— William T. Myers, Birmingham-Southern College
Bethany Henning eloquently contributes significantly to scholarship on John Dewey's aesthetics, creatively and with a feminist eye. Stretching back to Puritanism, she situates Dewey in a long tradition of American aesthetic sensibilities, enriches the enfleshed character of experience, and expands Thomas Alexander's introduction of "eros" to better describe the intensity of aesthetic feelings. In good pragmatist spirit, Henning is not content with merely good-sounding theory but applies her analysis to show how aesthetic experience is often unsettling and connected with the religious.
— Kenneth Stikkers, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale