Music of Reason

Michael Davis teaches philosophy at Sarah Lawrence College. He is author of many books, most recently The Soul of the Greeks: An Inquiry, a translation of Aristotle's On Poetics, and Wonderlust: Ruminations on Liberal Education.

"[A] rigorous and delightful work. Every page resounds with enthusing insights and startling puzzles, to which the author's humor adds both color and depth." (Polis) "Davis offers insightful readings of these philosophers' views on the music of reason. Those readings expand our understandings of Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Plato by elucidating their less familiar writings. They also recast the role of reason in politics by revealing its deeper, elusive foundations in musical experience." (Perspectives on Politics) "Davis seeks to illuminat[e] the ways in which the rational aspects of human nature (e.g., language, science, and philosophy) depend on the nonrational or musical (e.g., melody, art, and poetry)...The Music of Reason is a wonderful book, overflowing with insights and inspiration, which must be read to be fully appreciated." (Interpretation) "Davis is an established scholar who has developed a distinctive voice. Unlike many professional philosophers, Davis does not write into or about controversies in the scholarly literature. He writes for a broader, wider audience of readers concerned about the character of learning, reason, human communication, and living well . . . As in The Music of Reason, however, Davis roots in argument in a careful analysis of a particular text or texts. He is truly an original thinker whose writings deserve more attention than they have yet received." (The Montreal Review) "The Music of Reason is beautifully written and lucidly argued. Michael Davis is truly an original thinker who leads readers to understand what philosophy is, not by merely describing it or its results but by inviting them to engage in it along with him." (Catherine Zuckert, University of Notre Dame) "In The Music of Reason, Michael Davis offers a set of closely related essays that uncover philosophic themes linking apparently very disparate authors. Employing great learning, careful and subtle exegesis, and intuitive insight, he shows not only that Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Plato illuminate the subject of music but also that they are masters in the practice of the musical-poetic presentation of philosophy." (Richard Velkley, Tulane University)