Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. Philosophy Dept.
Advisor(s)
Lydia Moland
Second Advisor
Steve Saunders
Abstract
For early Wittgenstein, and perhaps the early analytic tradition, the scope of philosophy is almost synonymous with the limit of language. The quietist doctrine thus abandons all metaphysical inquiry. In the history of philosophy, some German philosophers around the 19th century showed us how we can arrive at the ontological truth in ways other than with language. For these German philosophers, aesthetics and art are vital tools in searching for truth. In response to the Wittgensteinian quietism and in search of other ways of philosophizing besides through the use of language, my thesis focuses specifically on the art of music and aims to explore how music can help us arrive at truth. Looking at Kant, the Romantics, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Mahler's music, I hope to demonstrate how people might philosophize, or gain access to truth, through music.
Keywords
Aesthetics, Philosophy of Art, Philosophy of Music, German Idealism
Recommended Citation
Li, Zhengzhou, "Philosophy and Music: A Search for Truth" (2022). Honors Theses. Paper 1335.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/1335