For centuries philosophers believed that it was possible
for all thought to come under a
unified filed of knowledge. They often
fought bitterly over just what that unified field of knowledge included. Although philosophers did not agree on the
content of that unified knowledge, they did agree that philosophical endeavor
could and should bring about a philosophy of hope to the world. For instance, Plato and Aristotle agreed that
the music modes had philosophical meaning, but they did not always agree on the
exact feeling or emotion that a particular mode produced. Although they did not agree on the meaning
produced, each philosopher believed that every musical mode had meaning. Also each philosopher had come to unified
conclusions music’s power.
Music philosophy has been historically a pursuit of the systematized
principles that give a wisdom that reveals truth about music and a unified
filed of knowledge about it based on truth and error or thesis and antithesis. During the early 20th century many
music philosophers began to give up hope in a unified filed of knowledge about
music based on thesis (right) or antithesis (wrong). They began to apply the philosophic belief of
Georg Wilhelm Frederick Hegel (1770-1831) to music philosophy. Hegel believed that every idea belonged to an
all-embracing mind in which every idea (thesis) elicited its opposite
(antithesis) and the result of these two was a unified whole which he called
synthesis. His “unified” whole was epistemologically
different since it derived “knowing” from a new synthesis thesis. This “knowing” about music’s meaning brought
about a new truth that was always found somewhere between truth and error. This
philosophical epistemology ushered in the belief that all knowing about music
was pluralistic
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