Music and consciousness: A continuing project*:

If there is a topic on which the humanities might make a distinctive claim, it is that of consciousness—an essential aspect of human being. And within the humanities, music might make its own claims in relation to both consciousness and being human. To investigate this connection, David Clarke and Eric Clarke brought together a wide variety of contributors in the book Music and Consciousness: Philosophical, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives (OUP, 2011). The collection contributes to debates in consciousness studies at large, but also maps out areas peculiar to music and consciousness. Additionally, it lays bare the sheer multiplicity of discourses that emerges when consciousness is approached from even a single field of inquiry, such as music. If this poses a challenge for arriving at any agreed notion of consciousness (in relation to music or otherwise), this instability is something that might be best embraced rather than ‘resolved’. While the study of music and consciousness affirms the importan...