Silence and sound: Essays on the ontology of music

Bc. Martin Celhoffer, Ph.D.

Master's thesis

Abstract:

This writing deals with one of the most problematic issues in musicology - the ontology of music. The themes selected are developed on the background of antinomy between sound and silence. This antinomy was understood as (i) audible and inaudible categories of music during Antiquity and Middle Ages; (ii) object (sound-concepts, sound-structures) and subjective condition (silence of a priori givenness of perceptual and cognitional faculties of a man) during the modern era. Chapters are organized chronologically showing the evolution of the idea of world harmony from Antiquity till the early empirics in the first part; and the theories of modern philosophical concern in metaphysics of music in the second part. The study also reflects how music was apprehended methodologically: as (i) a multidisciplinary field incorporating music, mathematics, astronomy, astrology; (ii) a philosophy of music integrating epistemology and ontology.

Keywords

ontology, cosmology, tetractys, Kepler, Kant, Schopenhauer, Ingarden, Goodman, Pytagoras, Boethius, Plato, musica mundana, Timaneus, quadrivium, Harmonices mundi, aphelius, perihelius, phenomenology, will, Maya, phenomena, noumena, pure reason, species immateriata, string field theory, world soul

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 23. 6. 2006

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 6. 9. 2006
• Supervisor: prof. PhDr. Lubomír Spurný, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Master programme / field:
General Theory and History of Arts and Culture / Musicology