17.07.2024

Institutskolloquium: "The Sound of Sadness"

Dozent: Dr. Joel Smith (Manchester). Zeit und Raum: Mittwoch, 17.07.24, 18 Uhr, Raum X, Alte Burse

Sad music is sad because it sounds sad. But how should we understand this? On one view, for music to sound sad is for us to hear it as sad, or to hear sadness in it. But there is some reason to doubt this view in terms of hearing-as or hearing-in. An alternative is to think that music sounds sad if it sounds like (the expression of) sadness. That is, music sounds sad if it possesses audible similarities to (expressions of) sadness. I motivate this view via linguistic and psychological evidence. I go on to consider and respond to some objections that can be levelled against it.