Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Today's Philosophers-Musicians

From Minds 2 Mentes:

For thousands of years philosophy has been shaped as people’s ideas have been articulated into language and expression. Be it through myths and stories, epics poems and plays or deeper thoughts written about the meaning of life and the universe as a whole, philosophy has been a huge definer of culture.

Where are today’s philosophers? Today’s philosophers are our musicians. No longer is philosophy confined to the ivory towers of the world. No one seems to have the will to embark on that high climb anymore. Instead it has taken a new shape, or perhaps an old shape rediscovered, in the arts. Music in particular is the mode of the today’s culture’s thoughts about life and meaning. If you want to know what people hold as valuable, look to the songs. If you want to observe someone’s deepest fears and anxieties, look to the music they listen to. If you want to view a soul bared, look to the words they put to melody. Even the way people use their bodies to perform their lyrics express their philosophies.

The question is, is today’s philosophy productive in its quest for meaning? Are any answers being found? Are any theories being formulated? Or instead of the quest for knowledge has today’s philosophy become simply the culture of the status quo. Has philosophy lost it’s love of knowledge, the very thing the word means? Has philosophy become more about what’s “normal” and “acceptable” and “what everybody’s doing” than the quest for truth?

It seems only natural that philosophy has taken this route. After all, we live in a postmodern society. Today’s postmodern philosophers are our musicians.

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