Philosophy of Music

Aaron Ridley is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton. He is the author of Nietzsche's Conscience: Six Character Studies from the 'Genealogy' (Cornell University Press, 1998), R.G. Collingwood: A Philosophy of Art (Orion Books, 1998) and Music, Value and the Passions (Cornell University Press, 1995) and the co-editor, with Alex Neill, of Arguing About Art (McGraw-Hill, 1995; 2nd edition: Routledge, 2002) and The Philosophy of Art (McGraw-Hill, 1995).

• The Philosophy of Music: Theme and Variations; Introduction - Music from Mars; Chapter 1 Understanding; Part 1.Background; Part 2.Central Park in the Dark; I. Music and Words; II. Paraphrase; III. Paraphrase and Art; IV. Paraphrase and Music; V. Understanding Ives; Chapter 2 Representation; Part 1. Background; Part 2. La Cathèdrale Engloutie; I. Detachable Sounds; II. Cryptographical Conventions; III. Musical Thoughts; IV. Resemblances; V. Putting the Title Last; Chapter 3 Expression; Part 1.Background; Part 2 Cynara; I. The Prejudice Against Song; II. Text and Music; III. Appropriateness; IV. Song as Expressive Music; Chapter 4 Performance; Part 1. Background; Part 2. Chaconne; I. Against Ontology; II. Some Objections; III. 'Authenticity'; Chapter 5 Profundity; Part 1. Background; Part 2. Tapiola; I. The Concept of Profundity; II. Expressive Profundity; III. Outlooks and Attitudes; IV. Two Clarifications; V. Sibelius's Profundity; Conclusion The Other Theme.

Ridley's book is both an introduction to philosophy of music generally and an introduction to an individual, pungently flavoured philosophy of music. His arguments are lively and provocative, and to boot, he writes like a dream. This is the kind of book that reminds one why philosophy matters, especially as applied to the things we love most.