The Philosophy of Music

Philosophy of music is the study of fundamental questions about the nature and value of music and our experience of it. Like any “philosophy of X,” it presupposes knowledge of its target. However, unlike the philosophy of science, say, the target of the philosophy of music is a practice most people have a significant background in, merely as a result of being members of a musical culture. Many people take music to play a significant and valuable role in their lives. Thus, as with the central questions of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, not only can most people quickly grasp the philosophical questions music raises, but they tend to have thought about some of those questions before encountering the academic discipline itself.