Up@dawn 2.0

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Music and Philosophy 14-2 Part 1


Music is a sound that resembles our life and how we live and maybe even how we think.


Music directly imitates the passions or states of the soul...when one listens to music that imitates a certain passion, he becomes imbued with the same passion; and if over a long time he habitually listens to music that rouses ignoble passions, his whole character will be shaped to an ignoble form. – Aristotle

Music as a big impact on our lives whether we realize it or not, but it can tell what state of mind we’re in at times. When we listen to music we tend to listen to the type of music depending on what kind of mood we’re in at the moment of listening.  Our emotions can come from whatever music we listen to and can affect our abilities in life. A prime example would be athletes and music before a game. Typically the athletes will listen to some music that will get them rowdy or pumped up to play the game in the state full of energy and intense. Another thing is ballroom dances and formal parties. At these types of venues, typically you’ll hear more of a classical and smoothing music to go along with the theme and mindset of what the people would like to hear and that will benefit them and their dates or guests. So not only does music just give us something to listen too, but also plays a role in helping us set the mood and gives us the affect to do something in a certain way.

 

Plato.

“Any musical innovation is full of danger to the whole state, and ought to be prohibited. When modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the state always change with them”-Plato.

Plato, from my own understanding believed that music should be taken away because it can damage us as a person and changes the way we think and act in society and through our life. Now, I agree to an extent because music doesn’t always have positive aspects on us and can mentally brainwash us if we don’t be careful. Since music has the sound we like to hear when we’re in a certain state of mind, we can listen to certain songs that have negativity involved in its lyrics which can provoke us as listeners to want to do the act we are hearing in the music. For example, if we’re mad at someone and we’re listening to a song that’s talking harming or endangering a certain someone, then it’s probably not best we listen to those types of songs because depending on what type of person you are, it might possibly come back to bite you if you’re easily influenced by the lyrics you hear. Not only is music that talks about harming others a bad thing, but also music that encourages us to do harmful things to ourselves like drinking alcohol to where we can’t think or remember and to do drugs. So yes, Plato is right when it comes to having music taken away that has those bad affects on us. In reality though, that type of music will never go away.  

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