Robust Praxialism and the Anti-Aesthetic Turn

In this paper I retrace the line of thought that led me to the position of a praxial philosophy of music education, from a perspective 20 years after the inaugural meeting of the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education. I discuss how I conceive of the general project of the philosophy of music education and recapitulate some of the strategies that might be deployed. In doing this I stress the “robust” or radical nature of the praxial program. I then address what I call the “anti-aesthetic” turn that some writers have taken with respect to the praxial position. I argue that there is no principled reason to adopt such a position and that, among other things, such a position undermines the reach and threatens the cogency of a robust praxial program. I end with a few comments on what I take to be the prospects of a praxial approach to the philosophy of music education.