The philosophy of music, as a field, can be seen as one of the longest standing disciplines for scrutinizing what music is and how it functions aesthetically, emotionally, interpersonally, and politically long before the establishment of the field of musicology in the nineteenth century. However, musicology’s disproportionate emphasis on the historical analysis of music has begun to marginalize its predecessor despite compelling voices that continue to contribute. Today, philosophers of music are all too often referenced as singular discursive threads within larger musicological analysis, while little emphasis is made for younger scholars of music to fully grasp the nuance of their work.
The primary goal of this reading group is to provide a concerted environment for the understanding of prominent philosophies of music. We hope to engage a broader community of scholars across the social sciences and humanities in order to explore the possibility for the broader theoretical arguments to animate other disciplines. Many philosophers that grappled with music also wrote across a myriad of fields. Consequently, it is crucial to examine the interdisciplinary implications of these texts that compel musical and philosophical as well as cultural, social, and political theories. As musicologists, studying the philosophy of music brings philosophy into musical discursive space. In a similar vein, philosophy may illuminate how music resides in other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences.
Please note that the readings selected for the Fall 2024 reading group reflect the philosophy of Western scholars in an effort to understand and scrutinize how the field of musicology has evolved into the field that disproportionately focuses on Western Art Music. A subsequent reading group seeks to broaden the scope of cultural and geographical domain so as to forge a path for a musicological field with equitable prioritization of cultures and philosophies.
This reading group on Philosophy and Music aims to closely read the central philosophical texts on music to develop a better understanding of what these theorists are arguing and why they have remained prominent among musicologists and cultural theorists. By working thematically, we aim to focus on the seminal works of specific philosophers that develop such themes. We will meet biweekly for a total of about 6-7 meetings during the Fall 2024 semester.
Fall Schedule:
4:30 pm - 226 Cone Seminar Room-Woolworth Center of Music Studies
- September 12
- September 26
- October 10
- October 24
- November 7
- November 21
- December 5