dc.contributor.author |
Davies, Stephen |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2015-09-14T23:31:00Z |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2002 |
en |
dc.identifier.citation |
British Journal of Aesthetics, 2002, 42 (4), pp. 343 - 356 |
en |
dc.identifier.issn |
0007-0904 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/26963 |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
According to Peter Kivy, to be profound, music would have to be about a profound subject that is treated in an exemplary way. Instrumental music does not satisfy this definition; usually it is not about anything humanly important, and when it is, it can convey no more than banalities. Like others, I argue against the propositional character of Kivy's ‘aboutness’ criterion; profundity can be revealed or displayed other than via statements and descriptions. I am less inclined than some of Kivy's critics to argue that music conveys profound insights into the emotions or abstract metaphysical ideas, such as unity and identity. Instead, I draw a parallel with great chess, which illustrates the fecundity, flexibility, insight, vitality, subtlety, complexity, and analytical far‐reachingness of which the human mind is capable. That demonstration is of deep significance, given the wider importance of an appreciation of our intellectual and imaginative powers, even if chess says nothing about the skills to which it draws attention. My thesis is that some instrumental music is profound in a similar way; namely, for what it exemplifies and thereby reveals about the capacities of the human mind. |
en |
dc.relation.ispartofseries |
British Journal of Aesthetics |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Details obtained from http://www.oxfordjournals.org/en/access-purchase/rights-and-permissions/self-archiving-policye.html
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0007-0904/ |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.title |
Profundity in Instrumental Music |
en |
dc.type |
Journal Article |
en |
dc.identifier.doi |
10.1093/bjaesthetics/42.4.343 |
en |
pubs.issue |
4 |
en |
pubs.begin-page |
343 |
en |
pubs.volume |
42 |
en |
dc.description.version |
AM - Accepted Manuscript |
en |
pubs.end-page |
356 |
en |
dc.rights.accessrights |
http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess |
en |
pubs.subtype |
Article |
en |
pubs.elements-id |
5309 |
en |
pubs.org-id |
Arts |
en |
pubs.org-id |
Humanities |
en |
pubs.org-id |
Philosophy |
en |
dc.identifier.eissn |
1468-2842 |
en |
pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2010-09-01 |
en |