Philosophical Perspectives on Music / Edition 1

by Wayne D. Bowman

Overview

Designed to introduce music students and musicians to the vitality of music philosophical discourse, Philosophical Perspectives on Music explores diverse accounts of the nature and value of music. It offers an accessible, even-handed consideration of philosophical orientations without advocating any single one, demonstrating that there are a number of ways in which music may reasonably be understood. This unique approach examines the strengths and advantages of each perspective as well as its inevitable shortcomings.
From the pre-Socratic Greeks to idealism, through phenomenology, and on to contemporary socio-cultural critiques, this wide-ranging survey examines the views of selected influential thinkers in sufficient detail to permit their voices to be personally and meaningfully experienced. Striving to portray philosophy as an intriguing dialogue rather than a dogmatic source of definitive answers, it invites readers to become full participants in an ongoing process of philosophical debate with vital contemporary relevance and extensive practical significance. Examining what music is, how it works, and what music is good for, this book encourages musicians to join in important conversations that shape both the ways they practice their art and the ways in which they and others understand it.
Accessible to students with little or no background in music philosophy, Philosophical Perspectives on Music provides the foundation for applied or professional philosophies while also introducing readers to the richness of the philosophical quest. Ideal for philosophy of music and philosophy of music education courses, it is also enlightening reading for students of musicology, music theory, and music performance. Featuring interdisciplinary dialogue, this insightful text addresses issues common to the concerns of all musicians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195112962
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/26/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	7.16(w) x 10.36(h) x 1.34(d)
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)

About the Author

Brandon University, Manitoba

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments1. Music and PhilosophyAims and AssumptionsCharacteristic Concerns of Philosophical DiscourseThe Value of Music Philosophy to the MusicianMusic from Divergent PerspectivesPerspectivism Versus the God's-eye View2. Music as ImitationAppearance and Reality, Deception and Truth: Plato's Music PhilosophyThe Continuing Greek Legacy: AristotleNeoplatonic Elaborations3. Music as IdeaRationalism and EmpiricismKant: 'Aesthetic' Experience, Beauty, and TasteSchiller: 'Aesthetic' EducationHegel: The Ascent Toward Absolute IdeaSchopenhauer: Lifting the Rational Veil4. Music as Autonomous FormAncient Precursors: Aristoxenus, Phildemus, SextusHanslick: Tonally Moving FormsGurney: The Power of SoundLeonard B. Myer: Expectation, Emotion, and Musical Meaning5. Music as SymbolLanger: Conceiving the Patterns of SentienceGoodman: Music and World MakingNattiez: Signs, Reference, and Infinite Musical Interpretants6. Music as ExperiencedPhenomenology: Origins and AssumptionsMerleau-Ponty: The Bodily Basis of Knowing and BeingDufrenne: The Musical 'Quasi-Subject'Clifton: The Geometry of Musical ExperienceBurrows: Sonorously Experiencing the WorldStubley: The Transformative Power of Musical PerformanceMusic as Embodied Experience: The Body in the Mind7. Music as Social and Political ForceAdorno: The Critical Social Function of MusicAttali: The Political Economy of Music8. Contemporary Pluralist PerspectivesFeminist PerspectivesMusic from Feminist PerspectivesThe Postmodern EthosNotesBibliographySubject IndexName Index