ERIC Number: EJ1298547
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
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ISSN: ISSN-1063-5734
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On the Usefulness of Nothingness: A Daoist-Inspired Philosophy of Music Education
Lu, Mengchen; Tan, Leonard
Philosophy of Music Education Review, v29 n1 p88-101 Spr 2021
In 1952, John Cage wrote "4'33"" which famously asked the performer not to play a single note: "tacet." This provocative work raises a number of questions. In music--and by extension, music education--what does it mean to not do something? What does it mean to make no sound? More fundamentally, what is the nature of non-action, non-sound, and even nothingness in and of itself? Since Cage was influenced by Eastern philosophy, we journey to Asia in search of insights into nothingness and associated notions of absence and negation. In particular, we draw on the writings of Daoist philosophers, principally Laozi, to examine a quartet of philosophical terms, namely, "wu" (nothing/ness), "wuwei" (non-action), "wusheng" (non-sound), and "wuaile" (neither sorrow nor joy). Using these ideas, we propose a Daoist-inspired philosophy of music education, one that emphasizes the usefulness ("yong") of nothingness ("wu").
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
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Language: English
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