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Plato and Aristotle On Music and Music Education: Lessons From Ancient Greece

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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Athenian views of music and music education as these are presented in the works of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and to suggest ways in which the issues raised by them are still relevant for music education today. Their philosophical and practical views on music education, apart from being an excellent and very up-to-date source for advocacy, can also initiate thoughts and promote solutions on problems that still remain unsolved. During the study, of their works, the reader surprisingly realizes that these philosophers had stated 2,500 years ago what the music education community has, just recently, come to realize concerning the value of music education, children's musical development, and instructional strategies in music.
... Οι πιθανές επιδράσεις που έχει η ακρόαση μουσικής στη λειτουργία του ανθρώπινου σώματος και νου θεωρούνται σημαντικές από την αρχαιότητα ακόμα (Stamou, 2002), ενώ φαίνεται να είναι πολλαπλές και πολυδιάστατες σύμφωνα με τον αυξανόμενο όγκο βιβλιογραφίας στα πεδία των νευροεπιστημών και της ψυχολογίας της μουσικής. Η ακρόαση μουσικής κατά τη διάρκεια της άθλησης, της προετοιμασίας γι' αυτήν ή της αποθεραπείας αποτελεί κοινή πρακτική στο δυτικό κόσμο (Karageorghis & Priest, 2012). ...
... ριβάλλοντα (εστίασης, άθλησης, ψυχαγωγίας ή εμπορικά) έχει ως στόχο τη δημιουργία συγκεκριμένης διάθεσης ή την αυξομείωση των επιπέδων συναισθηματικής διέγερσης, γι' αυτό και θεωρείται εργαλείο αναδόμησης των στόχων των δραστηριοτήτων που συνοδεύει και όχι μόνο υπόβαθρο (Juslin & Laukka, 2004˙ North et al., 2004. Οι πιθανές επιδράσεις που έχει η ακρόαση μουσικής στη λειτουργία του ανθρώπινου σώματος και νου θεωρούνται σημαντικές από την αρχαιότητα ακόμα (Stamou, 2002) ενώ η μουσική ως τέχνη συνδέεται με τον αθλητισμό επίσης από τα αρχαία χρόνια. Χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα αποτελεί ότι κατά τη διενέργεια των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων στην Αρχαία Ελλάδα υπήρχαν και μουσικοί αγώνες, κατά τους οποίους βραβεύονταν οι αοιδοί για ύμνους που έγραφαν για τους αθλητές, ενώ ορισμένοι αγώνες, όπως του πεντάθλου, διεξάγονταν υπό την υπόκρουση αυλητών (Bateman, 2014). ...
... Listening to music is considered to have important effects on the functions of the human mind and body, since antiquity (Stamou, 2002). These effects seem to be multiple and multidimensional according to the rising literature in the fields of neuroscience and psychology of music. ...
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Οι πιθανές επιδράσεις που έχει η ακρόαση μουσικής στη λειτουργία του ανθρώπινου σώματος και νου θεωρούνται σημαντικές από την αρχαιότητα ακόμα (Stamou, 2002), ενώ φαίνεται να είναι πολλαπλές και πολυδιάστατες σύμφωνα με τον αυξανόμενο όγκο βιβλιογραφίας στα πεδία των νευροεπιστημών και της ψυχολογίας της μουσικής. Η ακρόαση μουσικής κατά τη διάρκεια της άθλησης, της προετοιμασίας γι' αυτήν ή της αποθεραπείας αποτελεί κοινή πρακτική στο δυτικό κόσμο (Karageorghis & Priest, 2012). H παρούσα εισήγηση έχει ως σκοπό την παρουσίαση των δεδομένων που προκύπτουν από έρευνες του πεδίου, μέσα από την ανασκόπηση της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας, αναφορικά με τους τρόπους με τους οποίους ορισμένα χαρακτηριστικά της μουσικής προς ακρόαση, μπορούν να επιδράσουν στο άτομο ή στην ομάδα πριν, κατά τη διάρκεια και μετά την άθληση. Τα ευρήματα παρουσιάζο-νται σε θεματικές κατηγορίες ανάλογα με το αν αφορούν την προετοιμασία, την α-θλητική δραστηριότητα ή την αποθεραπεία ενώ κάθε μία από τις παραπάνω κατηγο-ρίες περιλαμβάνει υποκατηγορίες αναφορικά με το αθλητικό υπόβαθρο των ατόμων και το είδος της φυσικής δραστηριότητας (Hallet & Lamont, 2017˙ Stork, & Martin Ginis, 2017˙ Yu, 2014). Κατ' επέκταση, αναφέρονται οι παράμετροι που οφείλουν να λαμβάνονται υπόψιν κατά τη χρήση της μουσικής, πριν, κατά τη διάρκεια και μετά την άθληση, ώστε να μεγιστοποιούνται τα οφέλη τόσο σωματικά όσο και ψυχολογικά για τους εμπλεκόμενους και τις εμπλεκόμενες (μείωση του στρες, αυξομείωση της διέγερσης, μεγιστοποίηση της απόδοσης κ.ο.κ). Η παρούσα εισήγηση, μέσα από την ανασκόπηση της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας, φιλοδοξεί να προτείνει καλές πρακτικές, για τη χρήση της ακρόασης μουσικής, πριν, κατά τη διάρκεια και μετά την άθληση.
... Οι Boer και Fischer (2011) στη μελέτη τους για την ακρόαση μουσικής σε διαφορετικά πολιτισμικά περιβάλλοντα υποστηρίζουν ότι διαπολιτισμικά αναδεικνύονται δέκα βασικές λειτουργικές χρήσεις της μουσικής στις οποίες περιλαμβάνονται: η μουσική ως υπόκρουση, η μουσική για χορό, η διαχείριση των συναισθημάτων, η συγκέντρωση, η ενίσχυση της κοινωνικής και της οικογενειακής συνοχής, η διαμόρφωση της πολιτισμικής ταυτότητας, η διαμόρφωση αξιών και η επικοινωνία πολιτικών στάσεων. Από την αρχαιότητα έχουν παρατηρηθεί πολλαπλές επιδράσεις της ακρόασης μουσικής στο άτομο ενώ η ακρόαση μουσικής χρησιμοποιούνταν συχνά ακόμα και για θεραπευτικούς σκοπούς (Horden, 2017· Pauwels et al., 2014· Schoen-Nazzaro, 1978· Stamou, 2002· Thaut, 2015· Woerther, 2008. Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες η επιστημονική έρευνα επιβεβαιώνει τα οφέλη της ακρόασης μουσικής τόσο στην καθημερινότητα του ατόμου όσο και σε κλινικά περιβάλλοντα και το γεγονός αυτό οδηγεί στην αυξανόμενη χρήση της για την ενίσχυση της ευζωίας του ανθρώπου (Altenmüller & Schlaug, 2015· Batt-Rawden, 2010· Chanda & Levitin, 2013· Chin & Rickard, 2014· Goarke & Hogan, 2016· Pauwels et al., 2014· Siedliecki & Good, 2006· Stamou et al., 2016. ...
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Η ακρόαση μουσικής είναι μία καθημερινή δραστηριότητα η οποία πραγματοποιείται ακούσια ή εκούσια σε ποικίλα περιβάλλοντα. Μία από τις λειτουργίες της είναι η μουσική ως υπόβαθρο κατά την εκτέλεση παράλληλων δραστηριοτήτων με στόχο να επιδράσει στο άτομο και να επηρεάσει την εκτέλεση της παράλληλης δραστηριότητας. Η επιστημονική έρευνα αναδεικνύει τις επιδράσεις της μουσικής ως υπόβαθρο στη συμπεριφορά του ατόμου, στον τρόπο που βιώνει την παράλληλη δραστηριότητα, στην απόδοσή του σε αυτήν, στην αντίληψή του και στη συναισθηματική του κατάσταση. Στο παρόν κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται τα ευρήματα από τις σχετικές έρευνες του πεδίου και αναδεικνύονται τα χαρακτηριστικά των μουσικών ερεθισμάτων τα οποία φαίνεται να επηρεάζουν τον τρόπο που η μουσική υποβάθρου θα επιδράσει στον ακροατή. Ως ιδιαίτερα σημαντικοί παράγοντες για την επίδραση που θα ασκήσει η μουσική υποβάθρου στον ακροατή αναδεικνύονται η ταχύτητα (τέμπο - ρυθμική αγωγή) της μουσικής, ο βαθμός εξοικείωσης του ακροατή με τα μουσικά ερεθίσματα, οι μουσικές του προτιμήσεις, η ένταση της μουσικής, ο χώρος και οι συνθήκες στις οποίες πραγματοποιείται η ακρόαση, το κοινωνικό πλαίσιο και η καταλληλότητα των μουσικών ερεθισμάτων σύμφωνα με τη λειτουργία που επιτελεί η μουσική τη δεδομένη στιγμή.
... Aristotle, one of the most prominent ancient Greek philosophers, emphasized the ethical and emotional dimensions of aesthetics, notably focusing on the purifying effect of music on the purification effect of music on people's souls to cultivate temperament (Anderson, 1983). According to Stamou (2002), Aristotle not only recognized the role of music in moral education but also recognized the role of music entertainment, that it can make people experience the spiritual aspects of leisure and obtain soul purification. ...
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Chinese and Western music aesthetics arise from two different cultural backgrounds. While previous research has explored the evolution and interaction of Chinese and Western aesthetics, their specific impact on Traditional Chinese Instrumental Performance (TCIP) has been overlooked. This study investigates the intersection of Chinese and Western music aesthetics in TCIP, focusing on the perspectives of music scholars and students. To address this gap, the study employed narrative inquiry with music scholars (n=4) and semi-structured interviews with music major students (n=8). It explores how Confucianism and Taoism aesthetics, alongside Western concepts of autonomy and heteronomy, influence music scholars’ and students’ perspectives and practices in TCIP. The findings reveal that these aesthetic principles shape musicians’ artistic choices and interpretations. This research highlights the importance of integrating aesthetic thoughts into TCIP, offering insights for fostering Chinese and Western aesthetic appreciation and understanding of TCIP. These explorations extend to enhancing educational practices and promoting a more comprehensive interpretation of music aesthetics in both scholarly and performance contexts.
... Aristotle clearly recognizes music's affective qualities and potential in social engineering. These ideas have influenced music therapy (Garrido et al. 2013;Garrido and Schubert 2015;Provenza 2017;, music education (Regelski 1998;Stamou 2002) as well as approaches to music and politics (Klette-Bøhler 2024), and broader interpretations of music and culture. ...
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The ‘affective turn’ suggests that we pay attention to how affects create subjectivities, build communities, and shape new forms of politics in the making. It invites us to move beyond established humanities and social science paradigms and toward richer forms of contextual analysis by studying how bodies – human and otherwise – ‘act and are acted upon’ (Gregg and Seigworth 2010, 1). The ‘affective turn’ requires sensitive attention to a host of cognate terms and concepts – sentiment, emotion, reverberation, resonance, atmosphere, and far beyond, including the more specific trans-category of ‘affective politics’ as well as affective reinterpretations of the social. Music has long been recognized as a site where affective politics play out. However, existing scholarship often view Baruch Spinoza, Silvan Tomkins, Gilles Deleuze, and Brian Massumi as the founding fathers of affective thinking at the expense of related work in the broader tradition of music philosophy. We address this lacuna by discussing the relationship between music, affect, and politics in the work of Plato, Aristotle, Al-Farabi, Qian Sima, Johannes Tinctoris, René Descartes, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Theodor Adorno, Antoine Hennion, and Tia DeNora, as we aim to broaden, nuance, sharpen, and situate contemporary understandings of affective politics in music studies. In doing so, we discuss whether the affective turn is, perhaps, better understood as a ‘return’ to cross-disciplinary music research that situates the understandings of affective politics, relational agency, and political emotions within a longer history of music philosophy that, taken together, provide a more robust theoretical argument for the social and political force of musical sounds.
... Pemikirin Phythagoras lebih jauh kemudian berkembang dalam tradisi filsafat barat, dibantu juga dengan kontribusi tokoh seperti Plato dan Aristoteles dengan ciri ekplorasi peran seni musik dalam dunia pendidikan dan moralitas. Lebih jelasnya Plato meyakini bahwa musik adalah sarana edukasi yang dapat merubah manusia menjadi lebih baik, ataupun menjadi lebih buruk bergantung dengan tujuan penggunaannya (Stamou, 2002). Sedangkan Aristoteles meyakini bahwa musik adalah sebuah kesenangan tingkat tinggi yang dapat kita jadikan sebagai medium relaksasi pasca menghadapi kepedihan hidup (Mangoulia & Ouzounidou, 2013). ...
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Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menyelidiki serta menguraikan ilmu filsafat musik dari banyak dimensi, mulai dari pendefinisian esensinya hingga perkembangan keilmuannya sepanjang sejarah dan relevansinya di era kontemporer. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam peneltian kali ini adalah metode kualitatif, dengan ciri lebih mengedepankan pada analisis fenomena sosial budaya yang luas dan mendalam. Teori analisis data yang diaplikasikan pada penelitian ini adalah model dari Miles dan Huberman dengan konsep empat tahapan analisis data yaitu pengumpulan data, reduksi data, penyajian data dan kesimpulan. Adapun temuan dari peneltian ini adalah (1) filsafat musik bukan hanya sekedar analisis teoritis bentuk belaka, tetapi juga berkaitan dengan makna mendalam musik pada konteks yang lebih luas yaitu, sosial, budaya, individual maupun kelompok yang menyertainya. (2) Sejarah dari filsafat musik menggambarkan bagaimana perjalanan atau evolusi dari pemikiran tentang musik dari masa ke masa yang akhirnya memberikan pemahaman utuh terhadap fenomena musik era saat ini. (3) Pada era kontemporer analisis wacana filsafat musik condong kepada masalah-masalah seperti tren musik modern, teknologi yang menyertainya dan dampak perubahannya terhadap masyarakat global. (4) Urgensi dari mempelari filsafat musik sangat erat kaitannya pada, dihasilkannya keterbukaan wawasan mendalam tentang musik, yang pada akhirnya akan membuat siapapun yang mendalaminya akan lebih menghargai musik dan memiliki daya analisis kritis lebih pada fenomena musik di sekitar. Kata kunci: Filsafat musik, esensi, perkembangan, relevansi Philosophy of music: Understanding its essence, development, and relevance AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate and describe the science of music philosophy from many dimensions, from defining its essence to its scientific development throughout history and its relevance in the contemporary era. The research method used in this research is a qualitative method, characterized by prioritizing the analysis of broad and in-depth socio-cultural phenomena. The theory of data analysis applied in this research is the model of Miles and Huberman with the concept of four stages of data analysis, namely data collection, data reduction, data presentation and conclusions. The findings of this research are (1) the philosophy of music is not just a theoretical analysis of form, but also related to the deep meaning of music in a broader context, namely, social, cultural, individual and group that accompanies it. (2) The history of the philosophy of music illustrates how the journey or evolution of thinking about music from time to time which ultimately provides a complete understanding of the phenomenon of music in the current era. (3) In the contemporary era, the analysis of music philosophy discourse leans towards issues such as modern music trends, the technology that accompanies them and the impact of their changes on global society. (4) The urgency of studying the philosophy of music is closely related to, the resulting openness to deep insight into music, which will ultimately make anyone who deepens it will appreciate music more and have more critical analysis power on the phenomenon of music around. Keywords: Philosophy of music, essence, development, relevance
... In the Republic, Plato argued that the guardians of his ideal state ought to undergo substantial musical training (Pelosi, 2010). A similar understanding can be found in Aristotle, who in the Politics, emphasized the crucial importance of music in youth training, stressing the merits of musical education and practice in forging character traits and in developing a healthy mind (Simpson, 2000;Stamou, 2002). ...
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... Plato (dalam Sinn et al., 2022) membagikan sebuah klaim dimana bayi distimulus bunyi dan gerakan sehingga ia menari dan bernyanyi, secara tidak langsung belajar musik dan tarian bersama ibu mereka sejak dalam kandungan. Peran penting dalam pengetahuan musik bagi anak dalam mengolah jiwa mereka didasari atas keseimbangan musik dan gerakan (Sinn et al., 2022;Stamou, 2002). Diikuti dengan bukti intervensi musik dan gerakan menurut (Kolodziejski et al., 2014;Sinn et al., 2023) bahwa hal tersebut memungkinkan pendidik agar dapat menyusun kurikulum sesuai setting kelas dalam tata ruang, usia anak serta capaian yang diharapkan. ...
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