The illusory basis of musical experience : a psychological conception of the musically aesthetic
Is the musically aesthetic an objective property, or an effect that emerges from, and is dependent on, our perceptual apparatus? Certain things clearly do not depend on perception: concrete physical objects like the screen in front of me continue to exist whether they are perceived or not. However, other things I perceive do not persist beyond their perception, most obviously perceptual illusions such as the Waterfall or Muller-Lyer illusions, or the illusion that is created when I stare at an object and press the side of my eye. This thesis offers a novel cross-disciplinary approach to musically aesthetic experience, where the musically aesthetic is presented as an effect of perception similar to such illusions; this is in opposition to the prevailing view in musicology and aesthetics that the musically aesthetic is a feature of objects that listeners become acquainted with. The perception-dependent view is characterised as what I call the phenomenal conception. This is contrasted with the abstract conception, where the musically aesthetic is taken to be independent of perception. Scrutonâs arguments on the separation of tone from sound are used to characterise the latter, abstract view as involving acquaintance
Hinds, Patrick Andrew
The illusory basis of musical experience : a psychological conception of the musically aesthetic. Is the musically aesthetic an objective property, or an effect that emerges from, and is dependent on, our perceptual apparatus? Certain things clearly do not depend on perception: concrete physical objects like the screen in front of me continue to exist whether they are perceived or not. However, other things I perceive do not persist beyond their perception, most obviously perceptual illusions such as the Waterfall or Muller-Lyer illusions, or the illusion that is created when I stare at an object and press the side of my eye. This thesis offers a novel cross-disciplinary approach to musically aesthetic experience, where the musically aesthetic is presented as an effect of perception similar to such illusions; this is in opposition to the prevailing view in musicology and aesthetics that the musically aesthetic is a feature of objects that listeners become acquainted with. The perception-dependent view is characterised as what I call the phenomenal conception. This is contrasted with the abstract conception, where the musically aesthetic is taken to be independent of perception. Scrutonâs arguments on the separation of tone from sound are used to characterise the latter, abstract view as involving acquaintance
illusory basis musical experience psychological conception aesthetic aesthetic objective property effect emerges dependent perceptual apparatus certain thing clearly depend perception concrete physical_object like screen front continue exist whether perceive not however thing perceive persist beyond perception obviously perceptual illusion illusion illusion create object press side eye offer_novel cross_disciplinary aesthetic experience aesthetic present effect perception similar illusion opposition prevail_view aesthetic aesthetic feature object become acquainted with perception dependent view characterise call phenomenal conception contrast abstract conception aesthetic take independent perception argument separation tone sound use characterise latter abstract view involve acquaintance