The Hard Problems of Consciousness and Music
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Transcript of The Hard Problems of Consciousness and Music
The Hard Problems of
Consciousness and Music
The Hard Problems of
Consciousness and Music
Eugene MontagueUniversity of Central Florida
Eugene MontagueUniversity of Central Florida
Chalmers on the “Hard Problem”
Chalmers on the “Hard Problem”The Conscious Mind (Oxford University Press, 1996)
The hard problem is: How to explain consciousness within the framework of contemporary cognitive theory?
A reassessment of an old problem. Chalmers’ novelty lay in:
1.Catching onto and generating contemporary interest in phenomenality in cognitive science
2.Concise formulation
Music’s “Hard Problem”
Music’s “Hard Problem”
Words, and concepts, are often deemed inapplicable to music
For many, the experience of music is not captured by theoretical concepts and writing
Music’s hard problem: How to explain common modes of musical experience within the context of theory and analysis
Two Problems Compared
Two Problems Compared
The problem of consciousness is structurally similar to that of music
Both problems come about through an emphasis on empirical objectivity
Both involve an explanatory gap between empirical theory and subjective experience
These similarities suggest that solutions can be shared and that these solutions might be mutually illuminating
Cognitive Science and Phenomenology
Cognitive Science and Phenomenology
Empirical scientists and philosophers have developed considerable interest in phenomenality over the previous decade
Responding to this, many phenomenologists have sought to bring phenomenology and cognitive science closer
Naturalizing Phenomenology (Stanford UP, 1999), a touchstone for this project. Includes phenomenologists of many various strands, but all draw on the legacy of Husserl, itself constantly re-appraised
Music and Phenomenology
Music and Phenomenology
Phenomenology has had a somewhat muted influence on Anglo-American musical scholarship. Emphasis has been placed on the idealistic and anti-naturalist strains of Husserl’s thought, away from central currents in music theory
Phenomenologists of music might learn from the “naturalizing phenomenology” project
This entails adopting a perspective wherein phenomenology works side by side with empirical research, whether cognitive or more traditional music theory
Phenomenology, Music and AnalysisPhenomenology,
Music and AnalysisWhat can phenomenology bring to questions of music and musical meaning?
1.Emphasis on intentionality in creating meaning
2.A consequent highlighting of musical perspectives, including differences between composers, performers, and listeners
3.Rehabilitation of subjective experience, within an established method
4.Analysis of time-consciousness and musical temporality
Analysing Time-Consciousness in
Music
Analysing Time-Consciousness in
MusicAnalysis of prelude draws on Husserl’s notion of time-consciousness, poised between retention and protention
This basis in phenomenological theory is linked to considerations of practical music-making, and cognitive constraints
The topic of temporality is central to both consciousness and music
Example 1: Husserl’s diagram of the structure of temporal consciousness from the Bernauer MSS. (after Rodemeyer, “Developments in the Theory of Time-Consciousness.” Donn Welton (ed.) The New Husserl, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2003.)
Husserl on Time-Consciousness
Husserl on Time-Consciousness
J. S. Bach, Prelude in D major, WTC Bk. 1
J. S. Bach, Prelude in D major, WTC Bk. 1
Example 2: Following “x” at the start of Bach’s prelude (metrical projection).
Determining a Temporal UnitDetermining a Temporal Unit
Example 3: Mapping protention and retention onto the prelude’s opening bar.
Protention and Retention
Protention and Retention
Example 4: Developing “y” from “x” at the start of the prelude
Changing Boundaries of Time-ConsciousnessChanging Boundaries
of Time-Consciousness
Example 5: The temporal unit outlined by “z” at the start of bar 3.
Extending Temporal Consciousness
Extending Temporal Consciousness
Example 6: Narrowing the temporal fringes as “z” fails in bar 3
Re-adjusting the Temporal HorizonRe-adjusting the Temporal Horizon
Consciousness and Music
Consciousness and Music
By incorporating phenomenological approaches, music can address its “hard problem” while retaining approaches based in empiricism and cognitive science
Such studies in music foreground its status as an intentional object, and therefore provide opportunities to investigate consciousness in relation to the world, especially in its temporal aspects
Selected Works CitedSelected Works Cited• Berthoz, A. (2000). The Brain's Sense of Movement. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.• Chalmers, D. (1996). The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. New York, Oxford
University Press.• Chalmers, D. (1997). "Moving Forward on the Problem of Consciousness." Journal of
Consciousness Studies 4(1): 3-46.• Clifton, T. (1983). Music as Heard: A Study in Applied Phenomenology. New Haven, Yale
University Press.• Damasio, A. (1999). The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of
Consciousness. New York, Harcourt.• Gallagher, S. (1998). The Inordinance of Time. Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University Press.• Gallagher, S. (2003). "Sync-Ing in the Stream of Consciousness." Psyche 9(10).• Gallagher, S. and F. Varela (2003). Redrawing the Map and Resetting the Time: Phenomenology
and the Cognitive Sciences. The Problem of Consciousness: New Essays in Phenomenological Philosophy of Mind. E. Thompson. Calgary, Alberta, University of Alberta Press: 93-132.
• Lewin, D. (1986). "Music theory, phenomenology, and modes of perception." Music Perception III(4 (summer 1986)): 327-392.
• Lochhead, J. (1989). Temporal Structure in Recent Music. Understanding the Musical Experience. J. Smith. New York, Gordon and Breach: 121-165.
• Nagel, T. (1974). "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" Philosophical Review 4: 435-450.• O'Shaughnessy, B. (2000). Consciousness and the World. Oxford, Clarendon Press.• Rodemeyer, L. (2003). Developments in the Theory of Time-Consciousness: An Analysis of
Protention. The New Husserl: A Critical Reader. D. Welton. Bloomington, IN, Indiana University Press: 125-156.
• Roy, J.-M., J. Petitot, et al. (1999). Beyond the Gap: An Introduction to Naturalizing Phenomenology. Naturalizing Phenomenology: Issues in Contemporary Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. J.-M. Roy, J. Petitot, B. Pachoud and F. Varela. Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press: 1-83.
• Searle, J. (2004). Mind: A Brief Introduction. New York, Oxford University press.• Smith, J. (1973). "Musical Sound as a model for Husserlian intuition and time-consciousness."
Journal of Phenomenological psychology IV(1): 271-96.• Smith, J. (1989). Variation in Music and Thought: A Critique of Factualism. Understanding the
Musical Experience. J. Smith. New York, Gordon and Breach: 209-227.