Philosophy of Music Education Review

INTRODUCTION

Alexandra Kertz-Welzel, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universitaet, Munich, Germany and Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Hamar, Norway

Do you recognize this situation? People talk about what someone has supposedly said–or what they thought someone had said–without asking the person in question. Often, we feel uncomfortable when this happens, but do not stop it. This kind of situation seems to be a common part of our social lives–and maybe not only of our social lives. Sometimes, we treat philosophers’ ideas in a similar [End Page 4] way: we talk about what we think they said instead of trying to find out what they actually did say. While usually we cannot easily ask philosophers in person, we have their works. We can read what Aristotle or Augustine wrote. But sometimes, it is similar to the social situation described above. We do not go back to the original source, but rather rely on what other people, respected scholars even, said about what they thought philosophers said. Maybe it is easier to do this and we do not have much time for intensive studies; maybe we like to have a certain interpretation which gives us a direction; maybe we only use excerpts and see no need to know the entire work; or maybe a certain interpretation fits perfectly our own argumentation. Eventually, the fact that we rarely read the original works of philosophers leads to a similar result as talking about people’s supposed statements instead of asking them directly: you never know if it is true.

This symposium challenges this situation by going back to the original works of philosophers. We chose three exemplary philosophers to show the opportunities which going back to the original works offers. Discussing two well-known philosophers in philosophy of music education from Europe and one from Africa who is only occasionally part of our discourse,¹ was a choice we made for the 13th International Symposium on the Philosophy of Music Education (ISPME) in Oslo, Norway, in June 2023, based on the philosophical expertise of the panelists. There could certainly have been other choices.

Kai Martin questions the common assumption made about Aristotle’s concept of action and practice. Martin emphasizes that praxis, according to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, is an end in itself and related to ethical considerations. Furthermore, he argues for adding a music-related virtue to Aristotle’s catalogue of virtues: musicality. My own paper about Kant challenges what we think Kant said, particularly regarding the power of judgement in relation to his epistemology. This offers a completely different perspective on Kant’s ideas than music education philosophy usually has, mostly understanding Kant as the central figure for bourgeois aesthetics. Martin Berger analyzes Augustine’s writings about time and memory in relation to music education. He understands Augustine as the first African philosopher in the European history of philosophy whose ideas could be relevant for music education philosophy, for instance, regarding understanding cancel culture in a new way.

This symposium invites its readers to go back to the roots in philosophy of music education, to read the original works of philosophers to better understand what their real intentions were, no matter how uncomfortable this might be. Philosophy was never an easy endeavor: it challenges and unsettles. But this is the price philosophers and those interested in their work have paid over the centuries. The authors of this symposium have done the same; they read the original works of Aristotle, Augustine, and Kant² and from this reading present new [End Page 5] perspectives on questions which are relevant for philosophy of music education today. In view of the many attempts at rethinking and redefining the various dimensions of music education, it might be time to start a new dialogue with philosophers and their original ideas. We need fresh answers to address the challenges we are facing today–and philosophy offers valuable ideas, particularly if we get in touch with the original works of philosophers.