Music and Humanism

Robert Sharpe examines the humanist conception of music as a language - as expressive and intelligible - which has traditionally been dominant in Western culture. He argues against the view that the way in which music is expressive is by causing certain states in us: rather, our beliefs about music are integral to our appreciation of it. Differences in musical taste are not just irresolvable differences in sensitivity: they are the result of differences in circumstance and upbringing, of associations and ideology.