why do humans values music

8/12/2019 Why Do Humans Values Music

1/10

Why Do Humans Value Music?Author(s): Wayne D. BowmanSource: Philosophy of Music Education Review, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 55-63Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40327176

Accessed: 26/08/2010 07:47

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless

you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you

may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupress.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed

page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Indiana University Pressis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Philosophy of

Music Education Review.
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupresshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40327176?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupresshttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupresshttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40327176?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupress


2/10

Symposium 55oreven useful oattend o understand,ppreciate,etc.),nordero derive potentialalue sa variablematter. hus don'tneedtobe intimatelyamiliarwith heconventionsnd conditionsfballet i.e.,beyondmy xperience ith hysicalmovementnddance,ngeneral)ovalue t;but will ertainlyalueitdifferentlys a result f such xperience thoughnotnecessarilyoany bsolute enseofadvantage.Thus,t s sometimesrue hatordinary'untrained)listenersnjoyvalue) heirxperiencefmusicmorethan trained usician one,who, orxample,maycringet the hurchhoir,mistakingtfor concertchorus.1 . Searle, heConstructionf ocialReality,0-4120. Theplacementsfmusics nthis ontinuumanberandomrmightroceedccordingo omedescrip-tive ange f tatusunctionse.g.,popularofine rt,entertainmento erious,mundaneoprofound,tc.).Suchhypothesizedialectics ill lways earbitraryand rguable.21. I don't, n the ther and, osofar sto uppose hatsuch o-calledpure,"aesthetic,"r disinterested"meaningsmountothe isembodied etaphysicsfBeautyrSublimitylaimed yvariousand ompet-ing) raditionalestheticccountsnd hus ivenip-servicebymusical esthetes s testimonyo theirelevated ensibilities. uch right esults' or hisconstituencyor"taste ublic," s socialpsycholo-gistsabel t) re implyonditionedy he articularstatus unctionnvokedccordingo the redisposi-tions f hat ind fBackgrounding.isthesis,hen,is a process rmode f xperienceof ntentionality,consciousness,aluing)nota certain indof i.e.,aesthetic)roductr contenter e.22. A lullabyntendedrusedfor isteninglonewillalsorequireertainthereatureshatanoccupyheinterestsf isteners. s the unctionhanges,owillthe riteria.23. Take the case of a classically rainedAmericanpercussionisthohad studied certainraditionfAfricanrummingn heUS with Master rummer.While ater tudyingfricanrummingnsitu, hestudentwas askedon one occasion to leave theensembley he ndividualorwhom hemusicwasintendedecause isparticipationasdistractingerfromhe ncestornvocationhemusicwas to serve.It s importantoobserven this xample hat themusic" was not simply n accompanimento anotherwiseon-musicalocial purpose; t was thatpurposentoto.Furthermore,hemusickingas not"for"he ndividualervedn omemerelynstrumen-talorcontributoryay; hewaspart f themusic,"aswere he est f hosen ttendancehose olewasnotsimply hat f audienceor observer,ut wasparticipatory.24. A "good"performancefa scorebya schoolgroupwillbe considerablyifferenthan "good"perfor-

mance f he ame core yprofessionalrtists. husthe tatusr goodness" f he alue srelatednpartto theuse and s not ome trictlyesthetic r evenartistic bsolute.The "goodness" r excellence fschool erformance,hen,s not implyeterminedyhowclosely tapproximatesrattains opostulatedidealsorconventionalriteriaf estheticrartisticexcellence ut s, rather,mportantlyelated o itssituationfunction). imilarly,hough, edding rworship usicsnotudged imply yhow loselytapproximatesr ttains uch ingulardeals f xcel-lence; t, oo, s situatednd the onditionsf excel-lence hat btainn a concert allmay e/appropri-ate to thesituatednessf a particular edding rworship.25. 'Highest' n terms f theaforementionedesthetichierarchy.26. Unfortunately,hemusically nschooledmake thesame rroneousssumptionndremainomplacentwith he asily ained unctionshatmusic ervesntheirives.Thus, nefunctionfmusic ducationanbe seen s the osing ndmodelingfother eward-ingfunctionsvalues)formusic n life;to createstatus unctionor uchmusickinghat tudentsspireto t ndpracticet s part f heirgood ife."27. See Claire etels, Soft oundaries: e-VisioningheArts and Aesthetics" n AmericanEducation(Westport,T: Bergin Garvey,999).

WhyDo HumansValue Music?Wayne . BowmanI

As I setout o address hequestion eforeus, was struckythe ptness fWittgenstein'sobservationhat a philosopher'sreatmentf aquestion s like the treatmentf an illness."1Somethingbout his uestionetsme hinkingnpreciselyhewayWittgensteineems ohavehadinmind ere. Illness" s not he ssue, fcourse:Thequestions a reasonable ne, nd thosewhohaveposed t reno doubt easonable eople.Butthe arallels etween ormulatingresponsendtheprocesses fdiagnosingndtreatingllnessare intriguing.hephysiciantudies ymptomscarefully,ttemptingo identifyheunderlyingdisease fwhichheyre ymptomatic.ailure tthis tage eadstomistreatment,otreatmentfthewrongllness, r to treatmentf symptoms


3/10

56 Philosophy fMusicEducationReviewonly. n anycase, theunderlyingause is ne-glected. hepatient's ealthmay ail o mprove,or tmaywelldeteriorate.Similarly,oproviden nformedesponseto a questionike his, ne must nderstandre-ciselywhat s beingasked-andwhat s beingaskedmay rmaynotbe evidentn thewaythe'symptomsresent',n thewaythequestionsformulated.he problemposed maywell besymptomaticf deeper ssues or concerns-ofimplicit ssumptions he respondentmay bedisinclinedoaccept.A single et of symptomscanbe a manifestationf more han ne illnessandquestionsike theoneposedheremight easkedfor nynumber freasons.Tothe hilosopher,uestionsre ignificantconcerns,npart ecauseof he ubtleways heyconstrainhekind fanswer eemed elevantndinpartbecausetheymply he kindof strategy"appropriate"esponseshould eploy. hus,myresponseo the uestion,Why o humans aluemusic?"willbegin,nthe piritf he hilosophi-calquest orruth,yquestioninghe uestion. fwhatkind f ssumptions ighthis uestion ea symptom?Among hefirsthingsnemightwant oknow before mbarking pon a philosophicalcourse f reatmentor his articularuestionre"Whowantsoknow?" nd Why?" r, Towhatuse s it ntendedhe nswer eput?"Onemightask whypeople value music,for nstance,nhopes hatts nswerwould ubstantiateheneedformusic ducation. utof ourse t ouldnotdothat.Making compellingase formusic duca-tionrequires ifferentuestions nd differentarguments,r at east dditionalnes. Themerefact hat omethings valued,evenwhen t isvaluedwidely,eeply,ndfor oodreasons, oesnotnecessarilytrengthenhe ase for eachingt,especiallyfbyteachingnehas nmind ormalinstructionhat s partof general ompulsoryeducation. neneedsto show hat,mong therthings,nstructionalime,ffort,nd xpense avea demonstrableay-off,o showthat heyyieldmore fthis good thing" han s generallyhecasewithoutuch nstruction.The other roblemwith pproachinghe

problem rom he tandpointfadvocacy s thatthepurposes f advocacyrestrictherange facceptable r appropriate'esponsesnways hatmay well inhibitphilosophical nquiry.Theadvocatewants nswers hatffirm,ersuade,ndinspire,nswers hatppear o validatehe tatusquo. Advocacy huseliminates t theoutsetrangeofpotentiallyiableanswers hat,whileperhapsruend nsightful,onot ervets mme-diate nstrumentalnds. fourrealconcerns toanswer he uestions fullys possible, thinktimportanto avoid presuppositionshatmightundulyonstrainurresponse.What kindof presuppositionsoes thisquestionmake? nthefirstlace tmakesfor sthe ssumptionhat umansO valuemusic,henasksus toexplainwhy hat s the ase. There snothingerriblyrongwith his, fcourse, inceit s abundantlylear hatmost umans ovaluemusic nsomeway nd osome egree. utvaluecomes n all kinds nddegrees.t is possible ovaluemusic nd till ave hat aluebeof lowerorderhan therontenders,othat, ornstance,althoughvaluemusic, mayvalueotherhingsmore. o explaining hy eople aluemusic oesnotnecessarily,r in andof itself,ddress heissueofmusiceducation's recarioustatusncontemporaryorthAmericanociety-ifhatswhatshopedfor nananswer.Again, donot uggesthat umans onotvaluemusic, nly hat eoplevalueall kinds fthings or ll kinds freasons ndthat elativelyfew fthose hingsovaluedfind heir ay ntothearena of formal ublicschooling.Valuingcovers n mmenselyroad angendreasons orvaluing renotnecessarilyeasons or eaching.Indeed,tmightven e the asethat eoplevaluemusicfor easons uiteunsuitedrutterlynti-thetical o theaims andpurposes fschooling.Askingwhyhumans alue music, hen, s aninterestinguestionndonewellworthsking,butwe shouldnotnecessarilyxpectts nswersto buttresslaimsto theimportancef musiceducation.A more undamentaloncern orme sthewaythe uestionmplicitlyeems osethumansononeside,music n the ther,nd hen owant


4/10

Symposium 57tobuild bridge etweenhese wo olitudes iththe idea of "value."Admittedly,his s moreimplicithan xplicitn thequestion,ut t s asignificantssue forme,forreasons hopetomake learern due course.I have a furtheroncern hatmaystrikesome s 'picky'althought is notreally otsopicky s itmay eem t first loss.Thebestwaytoget t t sprobablyo ssert luntlyhat oonevaluesmusic-by hich mean ounderscorehatno onevaluesall of t, ll the ime.1fandwhenpeople value music, t is not "music" theyvalue-the hole f t-but atherarticular rac-tices and particularkindsof engagementnparticularircumstances.certainlyonot alueall music. hemusic valuevaries, ften idely,a functionmongother hings f the circum-stancesnwhich findmyself.hemusic valueon one occasion maynotvalue on another.Sometimeseethovens ustrightnd therimeshe is allwrong.2 oreover,ecomingmusicallyeducated as made t quitedifficultorme tovalue ertainmusics otherwise ight ave.Allvalue, submit,s valuefor': t snot durable rinternalor"inherent"r"intrinsic")ossessionof ome hingalledmusic.I trustt s evident here amtakinghis.Thequestion e havebeen skedmakes ssump-tions hat eem opushmy nswerndirectionswithwhich am notentirelyomfortablendfeel heneedto resist. erhapsmostnotably,tseems o solicit single, efinitive,nock-'em-dead nswer.amdisinclinedooffernebecauseI believe tronglyhatmusic s notthatkind fthing.Whenwe talk boutmusicwe stand nfundamentallyuman round, ecausemusic sfundamentallyuman.With hat omesall therichnessndcomplexityf hehuman ondition.And believe hat eoplevalue suchmusics sthey o,when hey o,for ll kinds freasons,reasonss numerousnd adicallyiverse stherearehumansestowhichmusical xperiencesndpractices an be put.We cannot xpect o dojustice othe xpansivenessfmusical alue n asingle vocative hrase fthekind hatmight iton bumperticker. usics rehumanlyntendedmeaningsmbeddedn human ctions nd,as

such,t sentirelyikelyhatverynteresthichmightind xpressionn such ctionswilldo so 3Indeed, s I implied arlier, ome ofthereasonspeoplevalue musicmaywell involvethings emightot articularlyant ocelebrateorencourage.n is important,hen, hat ur n-swers eopen-textured4ealsoneed oresistheassumptionhat ur nswers hould e ofdirectrimmediatese to music ducation,incemany fthe easons orwhich umans aluemusic o notrequire r necessarily enefit rom ducation.Indeed, s I implied arlier,omeof thereasonspeoplevaluemusicmaywell nvolve hings ewould notparticularlyant o celebrate r en-courage.t s important,hen,hat ur nswer eopen-textured,apable of accommodatinghemultiplicitynddiversityfwaysmusic anbevalued or not), heremarkableumber fwaysthere retobe musical.Despite hese inceremisgivings,do thinkI understandhe eneralntentf he uestionndampreparedohazard t east hebeginningsfan answer. owever, ermitmefirst o reformu-late t n a way hat lleviates ravoids t eastfew f he ssues ndconcerns haveraised ere.Instead f skingwhy umans aluemusic,etusask:

Whyopeople eem o have uch ffinityorexperiencesndactivitieshat re, n omewayorother,musical?Or,for hort:

Whyrepeoplemusical?5II

Note that espite esemblances,his s notquite he amequestionwithwhichwebegan. nfact, t is instructiveo note that hequestionoriginallyut oBennett eimerwas also subtlydifferent.hequestion irstosedwas,"Whysmusicessentialforall humans?" here s aninterestingrogressionromhis riginal orm fthe uestiono theway t sposed nthe itle f


5/10

58 Philosophy f MusicEducationReviewthis ssay ndfinallyotheway have reformu-latedthere. ach seems omove sprogressivelyaway from dvocacy,and towardphilosophyproper;way romefendingwhats" nd owarddescribingt as fully s possible;away fromconcern ithgivensand owardonsiderationfwhatmighte.My answer o myreformulateduestionbeginswith he bservationhat eoplehave uchaffinitiess they o becausemusical ndeavorsare laborationsfbasichumanendencies,eeds,and nterests-thingse comebynaturallyndforwhichwe aremore r ess hard-wired.6ote hatthis xplanationeginsnotwith iecesofmusicor musicalcompositions-withhatmight echaracterizeds musical ommoditiesr rtifacts-butrather ith asic human ispositions hichare embeddedn human ction nd interaction.This startingoint s quitedeliberate. arioustendenciesnd nterestsegetdifferentinds fmusic nddifferentinds fmusical ngagement,whosevalues refunctionsf heway hey ervethose endenciesnd nterests.hus,humans remusical or host freasons, one fwhich sforallpurposes etterhan llothers-any ore hananysinglehuman endencyan be designatedutterlyefinitivefthehumanondition.Francis parshottuggestshat mong hehumanendencies f whichmusic s an elabora-tion rethese:knowingan interestnexploringthe imits f thegiven); gaminga tendencyotransformecessitiesnto alues); ndpatterning(a tendencyo imposeperiodic tructuren theparticularsf experience).7think parshottsrightn his nd hathese rehighlyseful bser-vations. owever,think eshould robablyddtohis ist t east hreedditional umannterestsor endencieshatreelaboratednmusical xpe-rience: human nterestn communicatingrsharingmeanings; human nterestnparticipa-tion or collectivity;8nd a human nterestnsimilaritiesnd differences.mong hethingsthese atterhree endencies ave ncommon stheir roundingnhuman ocialexperiencendinteraction.9s a fundamentallyocialcreature,thehuman nimalfindsnmusical xperiencesnumerousnddiversemeans f reating,haring,

andcommunicatingeanings.Musicalso satisfies basichumannterestin belonging, elating,nd collaborating ithothers,he nterestharlesKeil andSteven eldmemorablyesignatetheurge omerge."10ndthe human endencyo structureheworld nterms f similaritiesnd differences anifestsitself ot nly n the intramusical"atternsnddesigns owhich parshottraws urattention.Theseprocesses f "saming ndothering,"helogics of similaritynd alterity,ind n musicimportantross-modalesemblanceso hingsikeemotiveexpressive)tates ndbodilygestural)states.11inally, ecausemusicoftenmanifestsitself in collective action, its collaborative,participativeitualssatisfy his basic humaninterestn social togethernesst thesametimetheyserveto differentiateus" frommusicalothers,them."

mThis s not heplacetoelaborate nthesepoints. owever,etusacknowledgehat f heseinterestsnd endenciesre ndeed umanlyasic,theywill obviouslymanifesthemselvesn allmanner f ways,not ust musically.Humantendenciesanhelpusexplainwhywearedrawntoand ake atisfactionnthingsikemusic,hen,but hey onotyet ellusanythinghat sspecifictomusic. heydo not elluswhy ur ffinityormusic seems so muchmoremomentousndremarkablehannon-musicalxperienceshatmaybe informedyandstemfromhese amebasictendenciesnd nterests.So I thinkwe needtoestablish nouran-swer placeofprominenceor hedistincthe-nomenalualities f onorousxperience.do notmeanust tsfelt' haracter,hat ague,nclusive

aspectso many re inclined o call emotive remotional.have nmind ound's ntimacyndrefusal o remain t a distance,tsperemptorynature,he ntrusivenessnd mmediacyhatedKant osituatemusic tthebottomfhisartistichierarchynd all t n agreeable' rt atherhana 'fine'one.12We arehard-wiredor ound ndwith directnessividly xemplified y things


6/10

Symposium . 59likeour tartle eflex nd ourvisceral esponses onoise.13Musical experience, ecause of tsdistinc-tive sonorousroots, s a fundamentallynd inex-tricably odilyor corporealevent.14t is, I haveargued lsewhere, "somaticsemantic/'15ut instillanotherway,musichas whatShepherd ndWicke call a "technology farticulation," hardlinkto thebody through ound. This hard ink,thisbody-soundnterface,makes t an importantpart fwhatmakesmusicutterlynique n humanexperience. 6Whatthese considerations uggestforour"why?"question s that ne of themost mportantreasons eopleare musical s that uchexperiencerestores nity ndwholenessto bodyand mind,drawing upon humanpowers and experientialdimensions hat ie dormantndneglectedwheresoundfiguresmarginallyrdoes notfigure t all.People aremusicalbecause theuniquephenome-nal nature f music because, that s, of its sono-rousroots)fostersxperiencewith richness ndcomplexityfoundalmost nowhereelse in theworld.17 eing musical is a function f one'swhole being, in markedcontrast o the silentspaces thatframe oththedisembodied bstrac-tions of rationalexperience and the detachedcoolness ofvisualexperience-realmsn whichweseem to live ever-increasing artsof our lives.Musical engagements utus in the worldand inourbodies likenothing lse does.18

IVBut people are also musicalbecause, as Isuggested arlier, hey resocial.Musical experi-ence serves n numerous nd fundamental aysthecommunal, articipatory,ndcommunicativeneedsand nterestsfa social human nimal.This

obviouslygoes against hegrain fsomewayswehave been taught o think boutmusic,whereinsocial interestsndtendencies reto be regardedas extramusical.They are not, I submit; anddrawing solidconceptualboundary etween hemusicaland the social (regarding hesocial as akindof "contextual nvelope" intowhich events'purely' and 'properly' musical somehow getinserted)everelyompromisesurunderstanding

ofthesignificance f musical experience.Musicis inherently,ot ncidentally,ocial. It s,as Keilputs it, our "last great source of participatoryconsciousness"19-notmere ubj ctive, pprecia-tive"response"to a musical-auditorystimulus"and not heproduct fsome localized brain stateoran hermeticctofcognition.Musical meaningsand values are fundamentally ntersubjctiveaffairs ndmusicsplay mportantoles ncreatingand sustainingboth individual and collectiveidentity.The experientialmusical field is aperformative ield, in which we are the musicwhile it lasts20-butwhose residues, I hasten toadd,remain ongafter ts sounds have subsided.From all this I think t also follows thatmusical domains are fundamentally nd pro-foundly thical paces,21n that he musical fieldis onlysustained hrough urcomplicitywith hemusic "as other," and withotherpeople. It is aritual enactment-or etteryet, achievement-ofidentity.22learly,these claims requirethat wedissolve the boundarybetween music and thepeople who make and use it. hope it is equallyclear that the dissolution of that boundary isnothing hortof a moral imperative. eople aremusical,at least inpart,because musical experi-ence meets their nterests nd needs as socialbeings and these interests nd needs are by nomeans less significant hanthose cateredto bymusic's formal rexpressive ttributes.23Now,as Deweytaught s,not ll experienceis created qual. And what would iketoadvancehere is that ll theforegoing-our ognitivepro-pensities ndpredilectionss humans; hedistinc-tivelycorporealnature of sonorous experience;the socialityof musical experience; its role increating nd sustaining dentityboth individualand collective )-intersect n experience that smusical n a very pecialway. They convergewithan experientialmmediacy, potentand uniquesense of livinghere-and-now,n a vivid,proces-suallyflowing resent. his contraststarkly iththecalculus oftechnical ationalitynd the cts ofmaterial onsumptionowhichcontemporaryifeseems so determinedo reduceus. Music restoresour human powers of conception, perception,sensation, emotion,and action to theiroriginal


7/10

60 Philosophy fMusic EducationReviewstate funity,issolvinghe bnoxious ualismsinwhichwe are forced o liveournonmusicallives. n this ense, t is, I submit, primordial'logos'.24 ut t is at the same time ritualisticmode f ngagementhroughhich eople onsti-tutethemselves,ndividuallynd intersubjec-tively.Inshort,hemost rominenteaturesfmyanswer o"Why repeoplemusical?" re music's orporealityrembodiment musics sociality music's thicalnature music's niquely rocessual haracter, music'svivid xperientialresentnessnd music'sdeepattachmentso dentity.Buthavingmade hese laims,t s mmedi-ately ecessaryoqualifyhem,ecause each s,afterll, ontingent.onehappens utomatically.Musicsdonot xist n theworld nthewaythatthingsike ocksnd rees o.Ashumanonstruc-tions thatremaindeeplyembedded n humansocialdiscourse;music asnone f hese ualitieswithouturcomplicity.haveclaimed hatmu-sic'sphenomenalniquenesss argely functionofthewaywe arewired or ound, ornstance.But sound lsomanifeststself s speech ndasnoise-experienceshat re nmany ays ntitheti-cal to whatmost f us regards music.Thefactthat ound s butmusic'smediumemindss ofmusic'sfragilityndelusiveness,fhow asily tcan slip over intonoise. I suspect his s yetanother eason hatmanypeopleholdmusicalexperiencesf omekind rothernhigh steem:for lthoughound laimingobemusic severy-where round s,genuinelymusical xperiencewithhe ualities have laimed eremay lwaysbe inshorterupplyhanwewould ike.25Theclaims havemade bout heunique-nessofsonorous xperiencehouldnotbemis-takensattributingomusical xperiencehe indof ssentialnityearlier anted odeny. ound,as music'smedium,acksmeaningn itself;tsphenomenalualities an supportmeanings sradically ivergents a MozartRequiem ndthe

popular ndustrialmusicof Nine InchNails.Likewise, here rediversewaysofengagementandmultiple usical ses owhichhese ualitiesof ound anbeput somehighlyesirable,thershighlyndesirable).here retimesndcircum-stancesnwhich eople eekoutmusical xperi-enceto savor imply eingnmusical ound ndspacetogether;ut s often, hat eople njoy sthewaymusic'sphenomenalualities ermeate,qualify,rtransformther ndertakings.e arewrong to designate such experiences"extramusical," for surely they are notextramusicalo those engaged n them.Norshouldwepresumeo udgefor thers here heboundaryetweenmusic ndnon-musichould edrawn. thinkt spreciselymusic's apacityoinsinuatetselfmeaningfullynd nfluentiallyntoall manner fexperiencehat ccountsfor tsextensiveresencenhuman ocieties.Music Sthat ind fthing.

VInclosingetme eaveyouwith parshott'scogentnsighthatmusic s "talk-like":n "im-provisedwayofgettingrom lacetoplace inasocialworld,"s heputs t.26thinkheres a lotoftruthnthis bservationndregrethat pacepermitsut nod n ts irectionere.Wedoexistinmusical xperience uchs weexistn onver-sation. n music we are "alone together,"achparticipatingifferentlynan eventwhoseveryexistence ests ponourethical ommitmentoachievingnd ustainingntersubjectiveeaning.Like conversation, usic s a slippery ffair,caught p inrelationshipsndattachmentsndtacit ssumptionshat lwaysplace itatrisk fbeingmisunderstood,fbecomingnauthentic,rof implyailing.27tproceedsuccessfully,hen

itdoes,byvirtuef kind fflexibility,mprovi-sational luency,nd deep espectorhe ontin-gencies f he ituationthand.Weslip n ndoutof t, nderstandndmisunderstand,eel urwayforward,rcircleback, rpursue nanticipatedbutnterestingangents.usic, ike onversation,isthe xercise,nthemoment,f kind fpracti-calknowledge,nethat raws neverythinghat


8/10

Symposium 61weare, ven s itshapeswhowe arebecoming.Whydo peoplevalue it?Whydo peoplecon-verse? 28orreasons hat reas numerous ndradically iverse s theuses to whichmusic anbeput.Why rewemusical? ecause of hewaysound ngages hebody;becausewe aresocial;because f he imitless ays hese actsmap ntoand nrichumanxperience;ndbecausemusicsare otentnd nique ehicles or he onstructionofourpersonalndsocialworlds.Theviews advancehere o not onstitutethe inalword n hesemportantssues. hats nno smallpartbecausemusic s notthekind fthing orwhich here s or can be a finalword.We woulddo well tostop reatingt s if twere.Indeed, ailureocome ogripswith he mplica-tions fthis undamentalusical ruth aywellbe one ofthegreatestmpedimentsofindingsatisfactorynswer o the Why?" uestionwehavebeenprobing ere.Recognitionndaccep-tance of such factsas contingency,ociality,fluidity,nd hange,refundamental,submit,oa viablephilosophyfmusic, o a viable hiloso-phy f music ducation,nd to music dvocacyeffortshat spire o achievemore han naffir-mation fthe tatus uo.Thus,while beganbyquestioninghe ufficiencyfany nswerothequestionWhydo humans alue music?" o ajustificationfmusic ducation,willclosebyassertinghat carefullyonsidered nswer sclearly ecessary. owever, entral o that n-swer,whateverlse itmay nclude,must e theconspicuousacts fmusical luralityndfluid-ity, hecontingencyndmultiplicityfmusicalvalue, ndmusic's nextricablyocial nd thicalnature.

NOTES1 LudwigWittgenstein,hilosophicalnvestigationstrans.G.E.M. AnscombeNew York:MacMillanPublishing.976). 255.2. In an essayforthcomingn David Elliott's riticalMattersOxfordUniversityress) use a quotebyWendell erryomake his oint bout lobal hink-ing: Properlypeaking lobal hinkingsnot ossi-ble.Thosewho havethoughtlobally avedone o

bymeans fsimplificationooextremendoppres-sive omerithename f hought."Out fYourCar,OffYourHorse,"TheAtlanticMonthlyFebruary1991)61.3. I have exploredhis spectof ntentinalitynmy"Sound,Sociality,ndMusic,"Parts & II. TheQuarterlyournalfMusicTeachingndLearning,Vol.3 Fall 1994):50-67.4. See Francis parshottAestheticsfMusic-LimitsandGrounds"nPhillipAlperson'sWhatsMusic?(NewYork: HavenPress,1986)for laborationfthismportantoint.5. This is so not onlybecauseofmusic'sprofoundculturalnd tylisticluralitynddiversity,ut lsobecause of thecontingencyf anyand all valueclaimswe mightwishtomake, venforparticularpractices.6. Note hatneof he hingshis eformulationttemptstodo s todissolve he mplicationhat here xistsdichotomouselationshipetweenmusic ndpeople,a eao suDDOsedlvn needofbrideine v value.7. This samong he ointsdvancedndelaboratedySparshottnthe eminal ssayreferredo nnote ,above. take parshott'soint bout he laborationofbasictendencieserebut eek oexpandt ome-what rom he iewheadvanced,incehis nterestn"listenableound"seenote ,below) eems ubtlyofavoristeningboveothermportantsestowhichpeopleputmusical ngagements.8. AccordingoSparshott,nterestnknowing anifestsitselfnexplorationf he imitsf istenableound.The gaming endencyransformsumanlymittedsound romymptomsf ome onditionnto xpres-sive epresentationsnd ventuallynto oundswhoseproductionas noapparentoint eyondhe nterestthey resentn hemselves.nd atterning,f ourse,transformsere ounds nto rtifactsith ecurrentsimilaritiesecognizables styles.9. Or belonging,"sTerry ates alls t nhisresponseto questionnumberwo of MENC's Vision2020project.1 . Actually,he ast ofthese robablymaps tself ntoboth the structuralnd the social dimensions fmusic: hats, t s mportantoknowingndpattern-ing nboth he ognitivend the ocialworldsnotthat he wo anbedisentangled).11 CharlesKeil and Steven eld,MusicGroovesChi-cago: UniversityfChicagoPress, 994).

1 . Christophermallmakes similar ointn hisbookMusicking1 98),where ediscussesafterateson)the importancef first-,econd-, nd third-orderrelationshipsomusical xperience.heemphasisncross-modalityhat attempto introduce ere snicely laboratednGeorgeLakofTnd MarkJohn-son's importantook,Philosophyn theFlesh: TheEmbodied Mind and its Challengeto WesternThoughtNewYork:BasicBooks,1999).


9/10

62 Philosophy fMusic EducationReview13. Immanuel ant,TheCritique fJudgement,rans.James reedMeredithOxford:Oxford niversityPress,1952). I exploreKantin my PhilosophicalPerspectivesnMusicNewYork:Oxford niversityPress, 998)74-91.14. I have explored hese n mybookPhilosophicalPerspectivesnMusic hroughhewritingsfDavidBurrows,83-93.15. I ventureo ay hat uch undamentalusical uali-ties as movement,esture, imbre, hythm,ndtension/releasereeachprofoundlynd nextricablybodily chievements.16. "A Somatic, Here-And-Now' emantic:Music,Body, ndSelf."Bulletinf heCouncil or esearchinMusicEducation,o. 144 Spring 000):45-60.1 . JohnhepherdndPeterWicke,Music nd CulturalTheoryPolity ress, 997).Myreview fthebookappearsntheCouncil orResearchnMusic duca-tion ulletin 0 Spring, 99):77-8 Althoughhis

is nottheplacetopursue hematterndetail, hisclaim ouniquenesslearlyequiresnexplorationftheways ound ntendedndperceiveds musicaldiffersromound hatupportshingsike inguisticutterancendnoise. have ttemptedo xploreheseinmy Sound, ociety,ndMusic Proper',"hiloso-phy ofMusic EducationReview2, No. 1 (Spring1 94): 1 -24. nthe nd, he ontinuitiesnd onnec-tionsmonghesemodes f onorousxperience aybe at least as interestingnd revealing s theirdifTerences-inhich ase, omemighte nclined ocharacterizey laim ouniquenesss anexaggera-tion.However, heuniqueness claim s for thearticulationetweenound ndbody, ot ormusicalexperienceerse. Thereferenceo a "body-soundinterface"borrow rom leanor tublev.1 . Both richness" nd"complexity"etat importantdimensionsfwhat have nmind ere.However,ncertain espects,ichness s thebetter fthe two.Much fwhatWesternersasually egardssimplesextraordinarilyomplex. ndmuch fwhat as beenwrittenbout omplexity,yL. B. Meyerndothers,for nstance,akes nto ccountonly syntacticaldimension.omplexityoconstruedsnot t llwhatI have n mind ere.19. The readermightwishto consult hechapter nphenomenologynmy hilosophicalerspectivesnMusic,254-303.Stubleys among hosewho writemostmovinglyn this eing-in-the-bodydea.20. InMusicGrooveswith . Feld).21. T.S. Eliot: ". . . youarethemusicwhile hemusiclasts." rom Dry alvages" n FourQuartetsNewYork:Harcourt,race,Jovanovich,988).Note hatbecause ofthis tronginkto identity, usic s animportantart f hemachineryywhichommunityiscreatednd ustained,n act hatssimultaneouslyinclusive nd exclusive a pointwhich houldbeappliedto the third fmysuggesteddditions o

Sparshott'sist fbasichumanendencies,bove).22. This idea ofmusic s an ethical pace or ethicalencountersone take p nconsiderablyore etailin a chapternthenewHandbook fResearchnMusicTeachingndLearning, ichard olwell ndCarolRichardson,ds. Oxford, ewYork:OxfordUniversityress, 002),63-84, ntitledEducatingMusically."t s also a concernhat tubleyakes pin her Play nd heFieldofMusicalPerformance,"Critical eflectionsnMusic ducation: roceedingsof he econd nternationalymposiumn he hilos-ophy fMusic ducation,n L. Bartel ndD. Elliott,eds. Toronto: anadianMusic Education esearchCentre, 996): 358-76; and "Being in theBody,Beingn he ound:ATale ofModulatingdentities,"Journal fAestheticducation 2,No. 4, (Winter1998): 93-105. Similar oncernslso figurenherforthcomingrticle,"Modulating dentities ndMusicalHeritage:mprovisations a Site or elf ndCultural e-Generation."23. OnStubley'view,music-makingonstituteso essthan identitynthemaking."24. I hope it is clearthat his s whatmotivated yresistanceothe eople-value-musicormulation.25. Emphasis eres on primordial";n ontrast,hope,tothe eason-drivenogosfrom hichhe ejorative"logocentrism"erivestsmeaning.26. Lest thesereferenceso genuinenessnd soundclaimingobe music emisconstrueds essentialistor litist,ome larificationay euseful. y soundclaimingobemusic" mean nly hose ounds hat,whilemusicalforothers renot,or notyet, on-structed usically yme.Andtheword genuine"hererefers otto somequality f"themusic"butonlytomyexperience.Muzak is one example fsound laimingobe music: arelyf ver o experi-ence tmusically;t smost ften,nmy xperience,a noisy ndirritatingntrusion.Myintent ere sprimarilyostresshe ragilityfmusical xperiencewith hequalities haveclaimedfor there. t isdecidedlyotmyntento mputeuch xperienceocertainmusics n virtueof supposedlyntrinsicqualities, ualities n whichothermusicsmightnecessarilyefoundnherentlyeficient.27. Sparshott,"Aesthetics of Music-Limits andGrounds."28 Lest bemisunderstood,y nderstandingf uthen-ticitys emphaticallyot rigid, ractice-governed,insularmatterhatmanifeststselfnabsolute ight-ness rwrongness.cting ightlynmusical raxissamatterfgettinghingsight ithinumanomainsthat reconstantlyvolving,whoseboundariesrealways eing ontestedndredefined.want opartof accounts f authenticityhat ct as ideologicalstraightackets,hatreat ybridigor s a defect,rthat ailto preserve place ofprominence ithinmusical raditionsor reativitynddivergence.


10/10

Symposium 63need to make one further oint, unrelated to thepreviousone exceptthroughmyreference o praxis.I have deliberately voided labeling the views ad-vancedhere praxial"or aesthetic"because the ermsare so widelymisrepresentednd misunderstoodndbecause debates over themerits f the twopositionsso oftendeteriorate nto deological struggles atherthanthe kind of discussionsthatgenuinely dvanceour understandingsf music and music education.However,for thoseto whom labels are important,want oacknowledge hat heviews advancedhere refundamentally raxial norientation.29. I hope I make clear here that what I mean is thataskingwhypeople value music is like asking whytheytalk-orwhytheyare interestedn each other.Again,this s partof the reason I wanted obeginbychallenging hequestion.

why do humans values music

Documents