Chris Lowry (Section 9) Blog Post #1

Philosophy of Music

 

Pt. 1 Hegel/Beethoven

The main philosophy of Hegel that I want to focus on is his view of the development of history, or his dialectic. I'm paraphrasing here, but basically Hegel believed that events in history were made up of a Thesis, and for every Thesis inevitably an Antithesis arose in opposition of the Thesis. After a conflict, there was a Synthesis of the Thesis and Antithesis, and a new Thesis was formed. Of course, another Antithesis would be sure to follow, so the cycle indefinitely repeats.

As you see in this chart, there is an upward movement to history. Hegel believed we were ascending with each synthesis, reaching toward some goal of ultimate human existence. 

Now for Beethoven. He was writing his 3rd Symphony in the year 1801, the same year the Hegel's book Differenz des Fichteschen und Schellingschen Systems der Philosophie was published. Many elements the Beethoven used in his composing were congruent to "German Idealism", the popular philosophy of the times, and one that Hegel also subscribed to. Beethoven believed that the Synthesis of a Thesis and its Antithesis could be expressed through music with just as much clarity and meaning as through words.