Philosophy of Music Education Review

Abstract:

In classical Greek philosophy, the pursuit of Truth was done primarily through logical argumentation using language as “Truth tool.” The major thinkers in classical China, on the other hand, were famously suspicious of language, with Confucius declaring, “I wish to be wordless.” They turned instead to music to express the philosophically ineffable. In this paper, we use the example of the Chinese guqin to show how music serves as “Truth tool” in the Chinese philosophical tradition; in fact, music may be Truth itself. Through a quartet of interrelated themes–namely, the “Search for Truth,” the “Search for Harmony,” the “Search for Ethical Awakening,” and the “Search for Sagehood”–we show how playing the guqin constitutes the doing of philosophy in this musical tradition. Through the guqin, performers and listeners experience Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist philosophical insights; no words are needed. We conclude by proffering implications for contemporary music education.