Both John Dewey and Martin Heidegger thought that art's audience had to take a detour in order to appreciate or understand a work of art. They wrote about this around the same time (mid-1930s) and independently of one another, so this similar circumstance in the history of aesthetics is unusual since they come from very different philosophical traditions. What was it about the climate of the times that led them to such an idea? Is it still viable today? Both philosophers thought that art's audience is not in a position to immediately appreciate works of art--that one is missing something for a direct appreciation or apprehension--so one must take a detour. Why the detours and what are they? Are the detours similar? And are Dewey and Heidegger right about this? In this essay, the author attempts to answer these questions. The author first provides a definition of "detour" and discusses how Dewey and Heidegger thought about detour. (Contains 14 notes.)