Listening as a Modus of Thinking: The Perspective of a Music Lover, Performer, and Critic

Anna CHĘĆKA

Division of Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Culture, Institute of Philosophy, Sociology, and Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, ul. Jana Bażyńskiego 4, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland , Poland

Abstract

The article offers an interdisciplinary reflection on the act of listening, in particular on the act of listening to music. In its purest form, listening consists in following a musical discourse that escapes verbalization. However, listeners are occasionally (e.g. when acting as professional critics) expected not only to describe, but also to value music and musical performances. In such instances, an act of listening entails passing a judgement of the value of a particular musical piece, as well as of the performance in question, and thus involves responsibility (or answerability, as George Steiner put it). Another interesting theme related to the main focus of the article is that of the neurobiological conditions of our auditory fascinations. However, addressing this issue properly requires, on the one hand, specialist research of the influence of music on the human brain and, on the other, cognitive humility.

Keywords:

listening, music, mind, experience, performance, criticism, cognition