Bloomsbury Revelations
2 total works
With Understanding Music and The Aesthetics of Music (1997) Roger Scruton set a new standard of rigour and seriousness in the philosophy of music. This collection of wide-ranging essays covers all aspects of the theory and practice of music, showing the significance of music as an expression of the moral life. The book is split into two parts, the first is devoted to the aesthetics and theory of music and the second consists of critical studies of individual composers, thinkers and works including essays on Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven's Ninth, Janacek & Schoenberg, Szymanowski and Adorno. Understanding Music will appeal to specialists in philosophy and musicology and also to music lovers who wish to find deeper meaning in this mysterious art. The Bloomsbury Revelations editions includes a new preface from author.
This is a personal view of philosophy from a renowned critic and thinker. In it, Roger Scruton focuses on the ideas and arguments which have attracted him to the subject and which have engaged his attention. He attempts to show how philosophy is relevant not just to intellectual questions, but to life in the modern world. Philosophy - the "love of wisdom" - can be approached in two ways: by doing it, or by studying how it has been done. The second way is familiar to university students, who find themselves confronted by the largest body of literature ever devoted to a single subject. This book follows a more ancient pattern. It attempts to teach philosophy by doing it. Although the author refers to the great philosophers, and in particular to Kant and Wittgenstein, who have been the greatest influence on his thinking, he gives no reliable guide to their arguments. The book makes no attempt to give either a history or a survey of the subject. Instead, it offers itself as a guide to the reader who is prepared to make a personal venture into philosophy. Its aim is to bring philosophy to life.