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Language, Empathy, Archetype: Action-Metaphors of the Transcendental in Musical Experience
- Philosophy of Music Education Review
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 21, Number 2, Fall 2013
- pp. 103-119
- 10.2979/philmusieducrevi.21.2.103
- Article
- Additional Information
This paper proposes a theory to explain the remarkable emotional power of our response to abstract music. It reviews and rejects metaphysical arguments derived from notions of a divine spiritual realm and from absolute forms of human reason. Its conclusion is that musical experience is always essentially inter-subjective and potentially empathetic, and arises from “action-metaphors,” through which we link musical performances, as forms of action, to subconscious, archetypal dimensions of our awareness of ourselves and of our feelings towards others. It ends with a discussion of the implications of this theory for music education.