Why Do Humans Value Music?

Author(s): Wayne D. Bowman

Source: Philosophy of Music Education Review, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 55-63
Published by: Indiana University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40327176
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55

Symposium

19.
20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

or even usefulto attendto (understand,

appreciate,
valueis a variable
etc.),inordertoderivea potential
familiar
matter.ThusI don'tneedto be intimately
and conditionsof ballet(i.e.,
withtheconventions
and
withphysicalmovement
beyondmyexperience
value
dance,ingeneral)tovalueit;butI willcertainly
- though
itdifferently
as a resultof suchexperience
to anyabsolutesenseof advantage.
notnecessarily
truethat'ordinary'
Thus,itis sometimes
(untrained)
ofmusicmore
listeners
enjoy(value)theirexperience
- one,who,forexample,may
musician
thana trained
itfora concert
at
the
church
choir,
mistaking
cringe
chorus.
40-41.
Searle,TheConstruction
ofSocial Reality,
can be
The placements
ofmusicson thiscontinuum
tosomedescripormight
random
proceedaccording
tiverangeofstatusfunctions
(e.g.,populartofineart,
toprofound,
toserious,mundane
entertainment
etc.).
dialecticswillalwaysbe arbitrary
Suchhypothesized
andarguable.
I don't,ontheotherhand,go so faras tosupposethat
or"disinterested"
suchso-called"pure,""aesthetic,"
of
amounttothedisembodied
metaphysics
meanings
various
or
claimed
(and
by
competSublimity
Beauty
accountsandthusgivenlipaesthetic
ing)traditional
to their
serviceby musicalesthetesas testimony
elevatedsensibilities.Such 'rightresults'forthis
(or "tastepublic,"as social psycholoconstituency
bytheparticular
gistslabelit)aresimplyconditioned
invokedaccordingto thepredisposistatusfunction
tionsofthatkindofBackgrounding.
then,
Aisthesis,
is a processormodeofexperience
(ofintentionality,
consciousness,
valuing)not a certainkindof (i.e.,
aesthetic)
perse.
productorcontent
alone will
A lullabyintendedor used forlistening
thatcanoccupythe
otherfeatures
alsorequirecertain
As thefunction
oflisteners.
interests
changes,so will
thecriteria.
Take the case of a classicallytrainedAmerican
of
whohad studieda certaintradition
percussionist
a
drummer.
in
with
Master
the
US
African
drumming
in situ,the
Africandrumming
Whilelaterstudying
studentwas asked on one occasion to leave the
ensemblebytheindividualforwhomthemusicwas
her
wasdistracting
becausehisparticipation
intended
themusicwas to serve.
fromtheancestorinvocation
It is important
to observein thisexamplethat"the
to an
music"was not simplyan accompaniment
social purpose;it was that
non-musical
otherwise
was not
themusicking
purposeintoto.Furthermore,
instrumenservedinsomemerely
"for"theindividual
talorcontributory
way;shewas partof"themusic,"
whoserolewas
as weretherestofthoseinattendance
not simplythatof audienceor observer,but was
participatory.
ofa scorebya schoolgroup
A "good"performance
thana "good"perfordifferent
willbe considerably

25.
26.

27.

manceofthesamescorebyprofessional
artists.Thus
thestatusor"goodness"ofthevalueis relatedinpart
to theuse and is notsomestrictly
aestheticor even
artisticabsolute.The "goodness"or excellenceof
schoolperformance,
then,is notsimplydetermined
by
how closelyit approximates
or attainsto postulated
idealsor conventional
criteria
ofaesthetic
or artistic
excellencebut is, rather,importantly
relatedto its
situation
(function).Similarly,
though,weddingor
musicis notjudgedsimplybyhowcloselyit
worship
orattainssuchsingular
idealsofexcelapproximates
ofexcellence;it,too,is situatedandtheconditions
lencethatobtainina concerthallmaybe /appropriate to the situatedness
of a particularweddingor
worship.
aesthetic
'Highest'in termsof theaforementioned
hierarchy.
the musicallyunschooledmakethe
Unfortunately,
sameerroneousassumption
and remaincomplacent
withtheeasilygainedfunctions
thatmusicservesin
theirlives.Thus,onefunction
ofmusiceducationcan
be seenas theposingandmodelingofotherreward(values) formusicin life;to createa
ing functions
statusfunction
forsuchmusicking
thatstudents
aspire
to itandpracticeitas partoftheir"good life."
See ClaireDetels,"SoftBoundaries:
the
Re-Visioning
Arts and Aesthetics"in American Education
CT: Bergin& Garvey,1999).
(Westport,

WhyDo Humans Value Music?

WayneD. Bowman
I
As I setoutto addressthequestionbefore
us, I was struckbytheaptnessofWittgenstein's
that"a philosopher'streatment
of a
observation
like
the
is
treatment
of
an
illness."1
question
aboutthisquestionsetsmethinking
in
Something
the
had
seems
to
have
way
precisely
Wittgenstein
inmindhere."Illness"is nottheissue,ofcourse:
The questionis a reasonableone,andthosewho
haveposeditarenodoubtreasonablepeople.But
a responseand
theparallelsbetweenformulating
illness
theprocessesof diagnosingand treating
are intriguing.
The physicianstudiessymptoms
to identify
the underlying
carefully,
attempting
Failureat
diseaseofwhichtheyaresymptomatic.
of
thisstageleads to mistreatment,
to treatment
of symptoms
thewrongillness,or to treatment

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PhilosophyofMusic EducationReview

56
cause is neonly.In any case, the underlying
glected.Thepatient'shealthmayfailto improve,
or itmaywelldeteriorate.
toprovidean informed
Similarly,
response
to a questionlikethis,one mustunderstand
precisely whatis being asked-andwhat is being
askedmayor maynotbe evidentin thewaythe
'symptoms
present',in theway the questionis
formulated.
The problemposed may well be
of deeper issues or concerns-of
symptomatic
implicitassumptionsthe respondentmay be
disinclined
to accept.A singleset of symptoms
can be a manifestation
of morethanone illness
and questionsliketheone posed heremightbe
askedforanynumberofreasons.
aresignificant
To thephilosopher,
questions
in
of
the
subtle
because
concerns, part
waysthey
thekindofanswerdeemedrelevant
and
constrain
in partbecause theyimplythekindof strategy
"appropriate"
responsesshoulddeploy.Thus,my
to
the
response
question,"Whydo humansvalue
music?"willbegin,inthespiritofthephilosophical questfortruth,
thequestion.Of
byquestioning
whatkindofassumptions
this
might questionbe
a symptom?
Amongthefirstthingsone mightwantto
know beforeembarkingupon a philosophical
courseoftreatment
forthisparticular
questionare
"Whowantstoknow?"and"Why?"Or,"To what
use is itintended
theanswerbe put?" One might
ask why people value music,for instance,in
theneed
hopesthatitsanswerwouldsubstantiate
formusiceducation.Butofcourseitcouldnotdo
that.Makinga compelling
case formusiceducation requiresdifferent
questionsand different
or
at
least
additional
ones.The mere
arguments,
factthatsomething
is valued,even whenit is
valuedwidely,deeply,andforgoodreasons,does
notnecessarily
thecase forteaching
strengthen
it,
if
one
has
in
mind
formal
especially byteaching
instruction
thatis partof generalcompulsory
education.One needsto showthat,amongother
instructional
andexpensehave
time,effort,
things,
a demonstrable
to
show
thattheyyield
pay-off,
moreof this"good thing"thanis generallythe
case without
suchinstruction.
The otherproblemwithapproachingthe

of advocacyis that
problemfromthestandpoint
the purposesof advocacyrestrict
the rangeof
or
inwaysthat
acceptable 'appropriate'
responses
well
inhibit
may
philosophicalinquiry.The
advocatewantsanswersthataffirm,
and
persuade,
inspire,answersthatappeartovalidatethestatus
quo. Advocacythuseliminatesat the outseta
viable answersthat,while
rangeof potentially
true
and
do notserveitsimmeperhaps
insightful,
diateinstrumental
ends.If ourrealconcernis to
answerthequestionas fullyas possible,I thinkit
to avoid presuppositions
thatmight
important
ourresponse.
undulyconstrain
What kind of presuppositions
does this
make?
In
the
first
it
makes
forus
question
place
theassumption
thathumans
DO valuemusic,then
asks us to explainwhythatis thecase. Thereis
nothing
terribly
wrongwiththis,ofcourse,since
it is abundantly
clearthatmosthumansdo value
musicinsomewayandtosomedegree.Butvalue
comesin all kindsand degrees.It is possibleto
valuemusicandstillhavethatvaluebe ofa lower
orderthanothercontenders,
so that,forinstance,
I
value
I
music, mayvalueotherthings
although
more.So explaining
whypeoplevaluemusicdoes
notnecessarily,or in and of itself,addressthe
issue of music education'sprecariousstatusin
NorthAmericansociety-ifthatis
contemporary
whatis hopedforinan answer.
Again,I do notsuggestthathumansdo not
value music,onlythatpeoplevalue all kindsof
thingsforall kindsofreasonsandthatrelatively
fewofthosethingsso valuedfindtheirwayinto
the arena of formalpublic schooling.Valuing
coversan immensely
broadrangeandreasonsfor
are
reasonsforteaching.
valuing notnecessarily
evenbe thecase thatpeoplevalue
Indeed,itmight
musicforreasonsquiteunsuitedor utterly
antitheticalto theaims and purposesof schooling.
Askingwhy humansvalue music,then,is an
interesting
questionand one well worthasking,
butwe shouldnotnecessarily
expectitsanswers
to buttressclaims to the importance
of music
education.
A morefundamental
concernforme is the
seemsto sethumans
waythequestionimplicitly
on one side,musicon theother,andthentowant

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57

Symposium

thesetwosolitudes
with
tobuilda bridgebetween
this is more
the idea of "value." Admittedly,
thanexplicitin thequestion,butit is a
implicit
issue forme, forreasonsI hope to
significant
makeclearerinduecourse.
concernthatmay strike
I have a further
someas 'picky' althoughit is notreallynotso
pickyas itmayseemat firstgloss.The bestway
thatno one
toassertbluntly
togetatitis probably
that
whichI meantounderscore
valuesmusic-by
no onevalues all ofit,all thetime.1If andwhen
people value music, it is not "music" they
value-thewholeofit-butrather
particularpractices and particularkinds of engagementin
I certainly
do notvalue
particularcircumstances.
all music.The musicI valuevaries,oftenwidely,
a function
amongotherthingsof the circumThemusicI value
stancesinwhichI findmyself.
on one occasion I may not value on another.
isjustright
andothertimes
Beethoven
Sometimes
he is all wrong.2
Moreover,
becomingmusically
forme to
educatedhas made it quite difficult
valuecertainmusicsI otherwise
mighthave.All
is 'valuefor':itis nota durableor
value,I submit,
"inherent"
or "intrinsic")
internal
possession
(or
ofsomethingcalledmusic.
I trustit is evidentwhereI am takingthis.
Thequestionwe havebeenaskedmakesassumptionsthatseemto pushmyanswerin directions
comfortable
and I
withwhichI am notentirely
feeltheneed to resist.Perhapsmostnotably,it
knock-'emseemsto solicita single,definitive,
tooffer
onebecause
deadanswer.I amdisinclined
thatmusicis notthatkindof
I believestrongly
thing.Whenwe talkaboutmusicwe standon
humanground,becausemusicis
fundamentally
human.Withthatcomes all the
fundamentally
ofthehumancondition.
andcomplexity
richness
AndI believethatpeoplevalue suchmusicsas
theydo, whentheydo, forall kindsof reasons,
diverseas there
andradically
reasonsas numerous
and
arehumanusestowhichmusicalexperiences
to
cannot
We
can
be
expect do
put.
practices
valuein a
musical
of
the
to
expansiveness
justice
singleevocativephraseofthekindthatmightfit
intended
Musicsarehumanly
sticker.
ona bumper
actions
in
human
embedded
and, as
meanings

which
such,itis entirely
likelythateveryinterest
in suchactionswilldo so!3
mightfindexpression
Indeed,as I impliedearlier,some of the
reasonspeople value musicmay well involve
we might
notparticularly
wanttocelebrate
things
or encourage.In is important,
then,thatouranWe also needtoresistthe
swersbe open-textured4
thatouranswersshouldbe ofdirector
assumption
immediate
use tomusiceducation,
sincemanyof
thereasonsforwhichhumansvaluemusicdo not
requireor necessarilybenefitfromeducation.
Indeed,as I impliedearlier,someofthereasons
peoplevalue musicmaywell involvethingswe
would notparticularly
wantto celebrateor enthen,thatouranswerbe
courage.It is important,
the
open-textured,
capable of accommodating
and
of
music
can
be
multiplicity diversity ways
valued(or not),theremarkable
numberofways
therearetobe musical.
I do think
Despitethesesinceremisgivings,
thegeneralintent
I understand
ofthequestionand
am preparedto hazardat leastthebeginnings
of
an answer.However,permit
me firstto reformulateitin a waythatalleviatesor avoidsat leasta
fewoftheissuesandconcernsI haveraisedhere.
Insteadofaskingwhyhumansvaluemusic,letus
ask:
Whydopeopleseemtohavesuchaffinity
for
and activitiesthatare, insomeway
experiences
or other,musical?
Or,forshort:
Whyarepeople musical?5
II
Notethatdespiteresemblances,
thisis not
quitethesamequestionwithwhichwe began.In
to note thatthe question
fact,it is instructive
Bennett
Reimerwas also subtly
to
originally
put
The questionfirstposedwas, "Whyis
different.
music essentialfor all humans?"There is an
fromthisoriginalformof
interesting
progression
thequestionto theway itis posed in thetitleof

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PhilosophyofMusic Education Review

58
thisessayand finallyto thewayI havereformulatedithere.Eachseemstomoveusprogressively
away fromadvocacy,and towardphilosophy
"whatis"andtoward
defending
proper;awayfrom
describingit as fullyas possible; away from
of
with' givens' andtowardconsideration
concern
be.
whatmight
question
My answerto my reformulated
thatpeoplehavesuch
beginswiththeobservation
as theydo becausemusicalendeavors
affinities
areelaborations
ofbasichumantendencies,
needs,
andfor
we comebynaturally
andinterests-things
Notethat
whichwe aremoreor lesshard-wired.6
thisexplanation
beginsnotwithpieces ofmusic
what mightbe
or musical compositions-with
as musicalcommodities
orartifacts
characterized
withbasic humandispositions
which
-butrather
are embeddedin humanactionand interaction.
This starting
pointis quite deliberate.Various
tendencies
and interests
kindsof
begetdifferent
musicanddifferent
kindsofmusicalengagement,
whosevaluesarefunctions
ofthewaytheyserve
thosetendencies
and interests.
Thus,humansare
musicalfora hostofreasons,noneofwhichis for
all purposesbetterthanall others-any
morethan
any singlehumantendencycan be designated
definitive
ofthehumancondition.
utterly
FrancisSparshott
suggeststhatamongthe
humantendencies
of whichmusicis an elaborationarethese:knowing(an interest
in exploring
the limitsof the given); gaming(a tendencyto
transform
necessitiesintovalues);andpatterning
to imposeperiodicstructure
on the
(a tendency
of experience).7
I thinkSparshottis
particulars
inthisandthatthesearehighly
usefulobserright
vations.However,I think
we shouldprobablyadd
tohislistat leastthreeadditional
humaninterests
ortendencies
thatareelaborated
inmusicalexperience:a humaninterestin communicating
or
a
human
interest
in
sharingmeanings;
participation or collectivity;8
and a humaninterestin
similarities
and differences.
Amongthe things
theselatterthreetendencieshave in commonis
theirgrounding
in humansocial experienceand
interaction.9
As a fundamentally
social creature,
thehumananimalfindsin musicalexperiences
numerous
anddiversemeansofcreating,
sharing,

andcommunicating
meanings.
Musicalso satisfiesa basic humaninterest
in belonging,relating,and collaboratingwith
CharlesKeil and StevenFeld
others,theinterest
And
memorably
designate"theurgeto merge."10
the humantendencyto structure
the worldin
termsof similarities
and differences
manifests
itselfnotonlyin the"intramusical"
and
patterns
to
which
draws
ourattention.
designs
Sparshott
These processesof "samingand othering,"
the
and alterity,
findin music
logics of similarity
cross-modal
resemblances
tothings
like
important
emotive(expressive)statesandbodily(gestural)
states.11
Finally,because musicoftenmanifests
itself in collective action, its collaborative,
participativerituals satisfythis basic human
in social togetherness
interest
at thesame time
"us" frommusical
they serve to differentiate
others,"them."

m
This is nottheplace to elaborateon these
thatifthese
points.However,letus acknowledge
interests
andtendencies
areindeedhumanly
basic,
theywill obviouslymanifestthemselvesin all
mannerof ways, not just musically.Human
tendencies
canhelpus explainwhywe aredrawn
to andtakesatisfaction
in thingslikemusic,then,
buttheydo notyettellus anything
thatis specific
tomusic.Theydo nottellus whyouraffinity
for
music seems so much more momentousand
remarkablethan non-musicalexperiencesthat
maybe informed
by and stemfromthesesame
basic tendencies
andinterests.
So I thinkwe needto establishin ouranswera place ofprominence
forthedistinct
phenomenalqualitiesofsonorousexperience.
I donot
meanjustits'felt'character,
thatvague,inclusive
so
are
inclinedto call emotiveor
aspect many
emotional.I have in mindsound'sintimacy
and
refusalto remainat a distance,its peremptory
and immediacy
thatled
nature,theintrusiveness
Kantto situatemusicat thebottomofhis artistic
andcall itan 'agreeable'artrather
than
hierarchy
a 'fine' one.12We are hard-wired
forsoundand
witha directnessvividlyexemplified
by things

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Symposium
likeourstartlereflexand ourvisceralresponsesto
noise.13Musical experience,because ofitsdistincand inextive sonorousroots,is a fundamentally
event.14
It
or
is, I have
tricablybodily corporeal
a
semantic/'15
Put in
"somatic
arguedelsewhere,
stillanotherway, music has what Shepherdand
Wicke call a "technologyof articulation,"a hard
link to the body throughsound. This hard link,
thisbody-soundinterface,makes it an important
unique in human
partofwhatmakesmusicutterly
16
experience.
What these considerationssuggestforour
"why?"questionis thatone of themostimportant
reasonspeople aremusicalis thatsuchexperience
restoresunityand wholeness to body and mind,
drawing upon human powers and experiential
dimensionsthatlie dormantand neglectedwhere
soundfiguresmarginallyor does notfigureat all.
People are musicalbecause theunique phenomenal natureof music (because, thatis, of its sonorousroots)fostersexperiencewitha richnessand
complexityfound almost nowhere else in the
world.17Being musical is a functionof one's
whole being, in marked contrastto the silent
spaces thatframeboth the disembodiedabstractions of rational experience and the detached
coolnessofvisual experience-realmsin whichwe
seem to live ever-increasingparts of our lives.
Musical engagementsput us in the world and in
ourbodies like nothingelse does.18
IV
But people are also musical because, as I
suggestedearlier,theyare social. Musical experience serves in numerousand fundamentalways
and communicative
thecommunal,participatory,
ofa social humananimal.This
needsand interests
obviouslygoes againstthegrainof some ways we
have been taughtto thinkabout music, wherein
social interestsand tendenciesare to be regarded
as extramusical. They are not, I submit; and
drawinga solid conceptualboundarybetweenthe
musical and the social (regardingthe social as a
kindof "contextualenvelope" intowhich events
'purely' and 'properly' musical somehow get
inserted)severelycompromisesourunderstanding

59

of the significanceof musical experience.Music

notincidentally,social. It is, as Keil
is inherently,
puts it, our "last great source of participatory
a meresubjective,appreciaconsciousness"19-not
tive "response" to a musical-auditory"stimulus"
and notheproductof some localized brain state
or an hermeticact of cognition.Musical meanings
and values are fundamentallyintersubjective
affairsand musicsplay important
roles in creating
and sustaining both individual and collective
identity.The experiential musical field is a
performativefield, in which we are the music
while it lasts20-butwhose residues, I hasten to
add, remainlong afterits sounds have subsided.
From all this I thinkit also follows that
musical domains are fundamentallyand profoundlyethicalspaces,21in thatthemusical field
is only sustainedthroughour complicitywiththe
music "as other," and withotherpeople. It is a
ritual enactment-orbetteryet, achievement-of
identity.22
Clearly, these claims require thatwe
dissolve the boundary between music and the
people who make and use it. I hope it is equally
clear that the dissolution of that boundary is
nothingshortof a moral imperative.People are
musical, at least in part,because musical experience meets their interestsand needs as social
beings and these interestsand needs are by no
means less significantthan those catered to by
music's formalor expressiveattributes.23
Now, as Dewey taughtus, notall experience
is createdequal. And whatI would like to advance
here is thatall the foregoing-ourcognitivepropensitiesand predilectionsas humans;thedistinctively corporeal nature of sonorous experience;
the sociality of musical experience; its role in
creatingand sustainingidentity(both individual
and collective )-intersect in experience that is
musical ina veryspecial way. Theyconvergewith
an experientialimmediacy,a potentand unique
sense of living here-and-now,in a vivid, processuallyflowingpresent.This contrastsstarklywith
thecalculus oftechnicalrationalityand theacts of
life
materialconsumptionto whichcontemporary
seems so determinedto reduceus. Music restores
our human powers of conception, perception,
sensation, emotion, and action to theiroriginal

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PhilosophyofMusic EducationReview

60
stateofunity,
dissolvingtheobnoxiousdualisms
in whichwe are forcedto live our nonmusical
lives. In thissense,it is, I submit,a primordial
'logos'.24But it is at thesametimea ritualistic
whichpeopleconstimodeofengagement
through
tute themselves,individuallyand intersubjectively.
ofmy
themostprominent
features
In short,
answerto"Whyarepeoplemusical?"are

orembodiment
music'scorporeality
'
musics sociality
music'sethicalnature
music'suniquelyprocessualcharacter,
and
music'svividexperiential
presentness
to identity.
music'sdeepattachments

Buthavingmadetheseclaims,itis immediatelynecessaryto qualifythem,because each is,

afterall,contingent.
Nonehappensautomatically.
Musicsdo notexistin theworldin thewaythat
likerocksandtreesdo.As humanconstructhings
tions thatremaindeeply embeddedin human
socialdiscourse;musichasnoneofthesequalities
without
I have claimedthatmuourcomplicity.
sic's phenomenal
uniquenessis largelya function
ofthewaywe are wiredforsound,forinstance.
But soundalso manifests
itselfas speechand as
thatareinmanywaysantithetinoise-experiences
cal to whatmostofus regardas music.The fact
thatsoundis butmusic's mediumreminds
us of
music'sfragility
andelusiveness,
ofhoweasilyit
can slip over into noise. I suspectthis is yet
anotherreasonthatmanypeople hold musical
ofsomekindorotherinhighesteem:
experiences
foralthough
soundclaimingtobe musicis everywherearoundus, genuinelymusicalexperience
withthequalitiesI haveclaimedheremayalways
be in shorter
supplythanwe wouldlike.25
The claimsI have madeabouttheuniqueness of sonorousexperienceshouldnotbe mistakenas attributing
tomusicalexperience
thekind
ofessentialunityI earlierwantedtodeny.Sound,
as music'smedium,lacks meaningin itself;its
phenomenalqualitiescan supportmeaningsas
as a MozartRequiemandthe
radicallydivergent

popular industrialmusic of Nine Inch Nails.

Likewise,thereare diversewaysof engagement
andmultiple
musicalusestowhichthesequalities
ofsoundcanbe put(somehighlydesirable,
others
There
are
timesandcircumhighlyundesirable).
stancesin whichpeopleseekoutmusicalexperienceto savorsimplybeingin musicalsoundand
butas often,
whatpeopleenjoyis
spacetogether;
thewaymusic'sphenomenal
qualitiespermeate,
otherundertakings.
We are
qualify,or transform
wrong to designate such experiences
"extramusical," for surely they are not
extramusicalto those engaged in them.Nor
shouldwe presumetojudge forotherswherethe
betweenmusicandnon-music
shouldbe
boundary
drawn.I thinkit is preciselymusic'scapacityto
insinuate
itselfmeaningfully
andinfluentially
into
all mannerof experiencethataccountsforits
extensivepresencein humansocieties.MusicIS
thatkindofthing.
V
InclosingletmeleaveyouwithSparshott's
an "imcogentinsightthatmusicis "talk-like":
fromplace to place in a
provisedwayof getting
social world,"as he putsit.261thinkthereis a lot
oftruthin thisobservation
and regret
thatspace
buta nodinitsdirection
here.We do exist
permits
inmusicalexperience
muchas we existinconversation.In musicwe are "alone together,"
each
in
an
participating
differently eventwhosevery
existencerestsuponour ethicalcommitment
to
andsustaining
achieving
intersubjective
meaning.
Like conversation,
music is a slipperyaffair,
and attachments
and
caughtup in relationships
tacitassumptions
thatalwaysplace it at riskof
ofbecominginauthentic,
or
beingmisunderstood,
ofsimplyfailing.27
Itproceedssuccessfully,
when
itdoes,byvirtueofa kindofflexibility,
improvisationalfluency,
anda deeprespectforthecontinathand.We slipinandout
genciesofthesituation
ofit,understand
andmisunderstand,
feelourway
or
circle
forward,
back,or pursueunanticipated
butinteresting
Music,likeconversation,
tangents.
is theexercise,inthemoment,
ofa kindofpractical knowledge,
one thatdrawson everything
that

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61

Symposium
we are,evenas it shapeswhowe arebecoming.
Whydo people value it? Whydo people conFor reasonsthatare as numerousand
verse?!28
diverse
as theuses to whichmusiccan
radically
be put.Whyarewe musical?Becauseoftheway
soundengagesthebody;becausewe are social;
becauseofthelimitless
waysthesefactsmaponto
andenrich
humanexperience;
andbecausemusics
arepotent
anduniquevehiclesfortheconstruction
ofourpersonaland socialworlds.
The viewsI advanceheredo notconstitute
thefinalwordontheseimportant
issues.Thatis in
no smallpartbecause musicis notthekindof
thingforwhichthereis or can be a finalword.
We woulddo wellto stoptreating
itas ifitwere.
failure
come
to
to
with
theimplicaIndeed,
grips
tionsofthisfundamental
musicaltruth
maywell
be one of thegreatestimpediments
to finding
a
answer
to
the
we
satisfactory
"Why?"question
havebeenprobinghere.Recognition
andacceptance of such facts as contingency,
sociality,
andchange,arefundamental,
I submit,
to
fluidity,
a viablephilosophy
ofmusic,toa viablephilosophyof musiceducation,and to musicadvocacy
efforts
thataspireto achievemorethanan affirmationofthestatusquo. Thus,whileI beganby
thesufficiency
of anyanswerto the
questioning
do
humans
value music?"to a
question"Why
of musiceducation,I will close by
justification
assertingthata carefullyconsideredansweris
clearlynecessary.However,centralto thatanelse it mayinclude,mustbe the
swer,whatever
andfluidconspicuousfactsofmusicalplurality
and multiplicity
of musical
ity,thecontingency
socialandethical
value,andmusic'sinextricably
nature.
NOTES
1.
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.
10.

11.
12.

,
LudwigWittgenstein,
PhilosophicalInvestigations
trans.G.E.M. Anscombe(New York: MacMillan
Publishing.
1976). 255.
In an essayforthcoming
in David Elliott'sCritical
Matters(OxfordUniversity
Press)I use a quoteby
WendellBerrytomakethispointaboutglobalthinkis notpossiing:"Properly
speakingglobalthinking
ble. Thosewho havethought
globallyhavedoneso

too extremeand oppresbymeansof simplification

sivetomeritthenameofthought."
"OutofYourCar,
OffYour Horse," TheAtlanticMonthly(February
1991)61.
I have exploredthisaspectof intenti
onalityin my
"Sound, Sociality,and Music," PartsI & II. The
JournalofMusic Teachingand Learning,
Quarterly
Vol.3 (Fall 1994): 50-67.
See FrancisSparshott
"Aesthetics
of Music-Limits
and Grounds"in PhillipAlperson'sWhatis Music?
(New York: HavenPress,1986) forelaborationof
thisimportant
point.
This is so not only because of music's profound
culturalandstylistic
anddiversity,
butalso
plurality
because of the contingency
of any and all value
claimswe mightwishto make,even forparticular
practices.
Notethatoneofthethings
thisreformulation
attempts
to do is todissolvetheimplication
thatthereexistsa
dichotomous
betweenmusicandpeople,
relationship
a eao suDDOsedlv
inneedofbrideinebv value.
Thisis amongthepointsadvancedandelaborated
by
to in note4,
Sparshottin theseminalessayreferred
above.I takeSparshott's
pointabouttheelaboration
ofbasic tendencies
herebutseekto expanditsomewhatfromtheviewhe advanced,sincehisinterest
in
"listenable
sound"(see note8,below)seemssubtly
to
favorlistening
above otherimportant
uses to which
peopleputmusicalengagements.
toSparshott,
interest
inknowing
manifests
According
itselfin exploration
ofthelimitsoflistenablesound.
The gamingtendencytransforms
humanlyemitted
soundfromsymptoms
ofsomecondition
intoexpressiverepresentations
andeventually
intosoundswhose
has no apparent
production
pointbeyondtheinterest
inthemselves.
Andpatterning,
ofcourse,
theypresent
transforms
meresoundsintoartifacts
withrecurrent
similarities
as styles.
recognizable
Or"belonging,"
as Terry
Gatescallsitinhisresponse
to questionnumbertwo of MENC's Vision 2020
project.
Actually,thelastoftheseprobablymapsitselfonto
both the structural
and the social dimensionsof
music:thatis,itis important
toknowingandpatterning in boththecognitiveand thesocial worlds(not
thatthetwocan be disentangled).
CharlesKeil and StevenFeld,MusicGrooves(ChiofChicagoPress,1994).
cago: University
Smallmakesa similarpointin his book
Christopher
( 1998),wherehe discusses(afterBateson)
Musicking
the importance
of first-,second-,and third-order
tomusicalexperience.
Theemphasison
relationships
thatI attemptto introducehere is
cross-modality
nicelyelaboratedin GeorgeLakofTand MarkJohnson's important
book,Philosophyin theFlesh: The
Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western
(New York:Basic Books,1999).
Thought

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PhilosophyofMusic EducationReview

62
13.

14.
15.

16.
17.

18.

19.

20.
21.

trans.
ImmanuelKant,The CritiqueofJudgement,
JamesCreed Meredith(Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press, 1952). I exploreKant in myPhilosophical
onMusic(NewYork:OxfordUniversity
Perspectives
Press,1998)74-91.
I have exploredthese in my book Philosophical
thewritings
ofDavid
on Musicthrough
Perspectives
283-93.
Burrows,
musicalqualitosaythatsuchfundamental
I venture
and
ties as movement,gesture,timbre,rhythm,
areeachprofoundly
andinextricably
tension/release
bodilyachievements.
"A Somatic, 'Here-And-Now'Semantic:Music,
Body,andSelf."BulletinoftheCouncilforResearch
in MusicEducation,
no. 144 (Spring2000): 45-60.
JohnShepherdandPeterWicke,Musicand Cultural
Theory(PolityPress,1997). My reviewofthebook
appearsintheCouncilforResearchinMusicEducathis
tionBulletin140 (Spring,1999): 77-81. Although
is nottheplace to pursuethematterin detail,this
of
claimtouniqueness
clearlyrequiresanexploration
thewayssoundintendedand perceivedas musical
differs
fromsoundthatsupports
thingslikelinguistic
utterance
andnoise.I haveattempted
toexplorethese
inmy"Sound,Society,
andMusic'Proper',"Philosophy of Music EducationReview2, No. 1 (Spring
1994): 14-24.Intheend,thecontinuities
andconnectionsamongthesemodesofsonorousexperience
may
be at least as interesting
and revealingas their
difTerences-in
whichcase,somemight
be inclinedto
characterize
myclaimto uniquenessas an exaggeration. However,the uniquenessI claim is forthe
articulation
betweensoundandbody,notformusical
to a "body-sound
experience
per se. The reference
interface"
I borrowfromEleanorStublev.
Both"richness"and "complexity"
get at important
dimensions
ofwhatI haveinmindhere.However,in
certainrespects,richnessis the betterof the two.
MuchofwhatWesterners
as simpleis
casuallyregard
extraordinarily
complex.Andmuchofwhathasbeen
written
aboutcomplexity,
byL. B. Meyerandothers,
forinstance,takesintoaccountonlya syntactical
dimension.
so construed
is notatall what
Complexity
I haveinmindhere.
The readermightwish to consultthe chapteron
inmyPhilosophicalPerspectives
on
phenomenology
Music,254-303.Stubleyis amongthosewho write
mostmovingly
on thisbeing-in-the-body
idea.
In MusicGrooves(withS. Feld).
T.S. Eliot: ". . . you are themusicwhilethemusic
lasts."From"DrySalvages"in Four Quartets(New
York:Harcourt,
Brace,Jovanovich,
1988).Notethat
because of thisstronglinkto identity,
musicis an
important
partofthemachinery
bywhichcommunity
is createdandsustained,
an actthatis simultaneously
inclusiveand exclusive(a pointwhichshouldbe
applied to the thirdof my suggestedadditionsto

22.

23.
24.
25.
26.

27.
28.

listofbasichumantendencies,
above).
Sparshott's
This idea of musicas an ethicalspace or ethical
is oneI takeup inconsiderably
encounter
moredetail
in a chapterin thenew Handbookof Researchin
MusicTeachingand Learning,RichardColwelland
Carol Richardson,
eds. (Oxford,New York:Oxford
Press,2002), 63-84,entitled
University
"Educating
Musically."Itis also a concernthatStubleytakesup
in her"PlayandtheFieldofMusicalPerformance,"
CriticalReflections
onMusicEducation:Proceedings
onthePhilosoftheSecondInternational
Symposium
ophyofMusicEducation,in L. BartelandD. Elliott,
eds. (Toronto:CanadianMusic EducationResearch
Centre,1996): 358-76; and "Being in the Body,
Identities,"
BeingintheSound:A Tale ofModulating
Journalof Aesthetic
Education32, No. 4, (Winter
1998): 93-105. Similarconcernsalso figurein her
article,"ModulatingIdentitiesand
forthcoming
MusicalHeritage:
as a SiteforSelfand
Improvisation
CulturalRe-Generation."
On Stubley's view,music-making
constitutes
no less
than"identity
inthemaking."
I hope it is clear thatthisis whatmotivated
my
to thepeople-value-music
resistance
formulation.
incontrast,
I hope,
Emphasishereis on"primordial";
tothereason-driven
logosfromwhichthepejorative
derivesitsmeaning.
"logocentrism"
Lest these referencesto genuinenessand sound
as essentialist
claimingto be musicbe misconstrued
orelitist,
someclarification
maybe useful.By"sound
claimingtobe music"I meanonlythosesoundsthat,
whilemusicalforothersare not,or not yet,constructed
musicallyby me. And theword"genuine"
hererefersnotto some qualityof "themusic"but
onlyto my experience.Muzak is one exampleof
soundclaiming
tobe music:rarelyifeverdo I experienceitmusically;
itis mostoften,in myexperience,
a noisyand irritating
intrusion.My intenthereis
to stressthefragility
ofmusicalexperience
primarily
withthe qualitiesI have claimedforit here.It is
to imputesuchexperience
to
decidedlynotmyintent
certainmusics in virtueof supposedlyintrinsic
qualities,qualitiesin which othermusics might
be foundinherently
deficient.
necessarily
Sparshott, "Aesthetics of Music-Limits and
Grounds."
LestI bemisunderstood,
ofauthenmyunderstanding
nota rigid,practice-governed,
ticityis emphatically
insularmatter
thatmanifests
itselfin absoluterightnessorwrongness.
inmusicalpraxisis
Actingrightly
a matter
ofgetting
within
humandomains
things
right
thatare constantly
evolving,whoseboundariesare
andredefined.
I wantno part
alwaysbeingcontested
of accountsof authenticity
thatact as ideological
or
straight
jackets,thattreathybrid
vigoras a defect,
thatfail to preservea place of prominence
within
musicaltraditions
forcreativity
and divergence.I

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63

Symposium

29.

need to make one furtherpoint, unrelated to the

previousone except throughmy referenceto praxis.
I have deliberatelyavoided labeling the views advancedhere"praxial" or"aesthetic"because theterms
are so widelymisrepresentedand misunderstoodand
because debates over the meritsof the two positions
so oftendeteriorateinto ideological strugglesrather
thanthe kind of discussions thatgenuinelyadvance
our understandingsof music and music education.
However, forthose to whom labels are important,I
wantto acknowledgethattheviews advanced hereare
fundamentally
praxial in orientation.
I hope I make clear here that what I mean is that
asking why people value music is like asking why
theytalk-or why they are interestedin each other.
Again, thisis partof the reason I wantedto begin by
challengingthe question.

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