Module MUSI2751: Topics in the Philosophy of Music

Department: Music

MUSI2751: Topics in the Philosophy of Music

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To explore the relation between music and philosophy, considering the philosophical issues to which music gives rise, how music may illuminate some of those issues, and how philosophy may illuminate the understanding of music.
• To cultivate intellectual rigour.

Content

• The module addresses philosophical questions concerning music and our experience of it. The questions raised may include the nature of music; the concept of musical works and performances; the relationship between composition and improvisation; the phenomenology of musical experience; the nature of musical 'meaning' and 'expressions'; and the relationship between music and non-musical sonic arts. In undertaking the above, we consider the views of contemporary philosophers of music, who may include such figures as Roger Scruton, Jerrold Levinson, Stephen Davies and Lydia Goehr, with reference also to major historical philosophers, who may include Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and/or Adorno, as well as influential authors such as Hanslick. We also consider the artistic positions of particular composers and/or performers, and we compare musicological and philosophical discourse about music. In addition we will look at indeterminacy in composition and performance, with a focus on the philosophical worlds and works of John Cage and Fluxus.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will become familiar with a range of characteristic philosophical enquiries, bearing on the nature of music and musical experience. They will be able to assess the capacity of music to illuminate philosophical enquiry and vice versa.

• The module will develop students' capacities for critical reflection and for reasoning through valid argumentation, and their ability to recognise and, where appropriate, challenge the foundational premisses upon which arguments are grounded.

• The development of a range of appropriate analytical and research skills together with the ability to articulate ideas, especially in dialogue.
• The ability to engage, through careful preparation and critical thinking, in a viva voce and to respond to Socratic questioning.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Whole group lecture, including class discussion to ensure the active participation of students.
• Directed reading.
• Seminars in which students practise debating key topics and analysing concepts critically.
• The module emphasises creative, practical, and critical modes of engagement, leading students to develop original research questions, and honing their capacity for logical argument.
• The main summative assessment takes the form of an oral examination on the module content, consisting of two equally weighted elements: a discussion (50%) and a scripted presentation (up to 10 minutes, approximately 1,500 words) on a topic of the student’s choice (50%).

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Students will be asked to do preparatory written tasks relating to seminar topics. In preparation for the summative assignment, they will be asked to prepare a short, written outline of their presentation, with a bibliography.