2026/04/29 by Hane Htut Maung · 2 voices
Arts and Humanities · #Baroque #Composition (language) #Counterpoint #Historical Philosophy and Science #Metaphysics #Musical #Musicology and Musical Analysis #Renaissance and Early Modern Studies #The Renaissance
paper · doi:10.1080/09515089.2026.2664671
published in Philosophical Psychology, 1-28 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2026/04/29 · openalex created_date 2026/05/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
In an essay entitled “Schopenhauer’s Flute and Descartes’s Lute” (2024), Helen De Cruz asks: “what can musical practice tell us about philosophy?” The present paper offers an answer to this question, with a specific focus on the musical practice of canonic counterpoint in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. I examine two ways in which this musical practice is philosophically significant. First, drawing on work on musical representation through convention and resemblance, I argue that canonic counterpoint as a form can convey philosophical ideas. Second, drawing on contrapuntal treatises and recent work on modal property perception, I argue that canonic counterpoint as a procedure can yield insights into the perceptual and reasoning processes of musicians. This analysis highlights how musical composition can be a medium for engaging with philosophy.