From our first social bonding as infants to the funeral rites that mark our passing, music plays an important role in our lives, bringing us closer to one another. In The Music between Us, philosopher Kathleen Marie Higgins investigates this role, examining the features of human perception that enable music's uncanny ability to provoke, despite its myriad forms across continents and throughout centuries, the sense of a shared human experience. Drawing on disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, musicology, linguistics, and anthropology, Higgins' richly researched study showcases the ways music is used in rituals, education, work, healing, and as a source of security and - perhaps most importantly - joy. By participating so integrally in such meaningful facets of society, Higgins argues, music situates itself as one of the most fundamental bridges between people, a truly cross-cultural form of communication that can create solidarity across political divides. Moving beyond the well-worn takes on music's universality, The Music between Us provides a new understanding of what it means to be musical and, in turn, human.
- ISBN10 022614285X
- ISBN13 9780226142852
- Publish Date 8 May 2014 (first published 1 June 2012)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Chicago Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 296
- Language English
- URL http://wiley.com/remtitle.cgi?isbn=9780226142852