Chapter 5 - The Contemporary Period

Summary

The contemporary period (since 1950) has seen a complete rupture between the Continental and analytic schools in philosophy of music. Continental figures have focused on music’s relationship to its context. Feminists have investigated the impact of oppression of women on music. Analytic philosophers have focused on the relationship between music and emotion, and on how this relationship bears on questions about the value of music. The division between formalists and anti-formalists has persisted into the contemporary period. Questions about the ontology of music have been widely debated. Popular music has received increased attention. Figures discussed include Susan McClary, Heide Göttner-Abendroth, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jacques Attali, O. K. Bouwsma, John Hospers, Alan Tormey, Nelson Goodman, Peter Kivy, Stephen Davies, David Davies, Malcolm Budd, Andy Hamilton, Jerrold Levinson, Edward T. Cone, Leonard B. Meyer, Jenefer Robinson, Roger Scruton, Kendall Walton, Theodore Gracyk, Andrew Kania, Monroe Beardsley, Gilles Deleuze, Richard Wollheim, Lydia Goehr, Julian Dodd and Nichlas Wolterstorff.