Musikphilosophie

Why do we experience musical pieces as ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ when they are not sentient beings? What constitutes a musical ‘work’ when it is not a physical object? What is music anyway? Can something cease ‘to be music’? Such questions have been discussed repeatedly and controversially within the field of music philosophy. This book provides an overview of these discussions, particularly within English- and German-speaking contexts, and offers its own answers. Rather than presenting the history of music-philosophical ideas, the book invites critical and contemporary dialogue with past and present positions – including those of the author.