Open AccessIf There's No Music Up in Heaven Then What's it For?
Author(s) -
Gabriel Tugendstein
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
stance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1943-1899
pISSN - 1943-1880
DOI - 10.33043/s.13.1.142-153
Subject(s) - heaven , false accusation , feeling , musical , psychology , interpretation (philosophy) , aesthetics , rehearsing , epistemology , philosophy , social psychology , art , literature , visual arts , theology , linguistics
In this article, I advocate in favor of music as a method of conveying philosophical thought, in the process defending subjective, non-verbal feeling as a component of true philosophical discussion. I first invoke the Kierkegaardian concepts of subjective truth and the musical-erotic to support my position, then show how such a method could be employed through a case study of the Arcade Fire song “Here Comes The Night Time.” Finally, I confront and disarm the potential accusation that this method would over-intellectualize music through excessive interpretation, removing the erotic nature that empowers it.