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For centuries, philosophers have got music wrong by making it mysterious, says Lydia Goehr, professor of philosophy at Columbia University in New York. What really matters is what we do with the music. In this Aeon interview, Goehr explains how understanding music’s functions gives insights into its power without diminishing its beauty.
Interviewer: Nigel Warburton
Producer: Kellen Quinn
Editor: Adam D’Arpino
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Meaning and the good life
Why Orwell urged his readers to celebrate the spring, cynics be damned
11 minutes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes
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Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
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Meaning and the good life
Leading 1950s thinkers on the search for happiness in trying times
29 minutes
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
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Virtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes
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Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes