PhilosophySciencePsychologySocietyCulture
EssaysVideos

Popular

About
DONATENEWSLETTER
Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletterSIGN IN
Email
Post
Share

Music is marvellous, but not mysterious: an interview with Lydia Goehr

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

1 December 2015
Email
Post
Share
3D heat map graph with peaks in red and valleys in blue showing data variation.

videoMusic

A riveting audiovisual dive into what makes sounds harmonious, or not

28 minutes

Photo of a woman in a red coat gazing out a foggy window with a contemplative expression.

videoProgress and modernity

Moving from Tibet to Beijing, Drolma reconciles big dreams with harsh realities

31 minutes

Illustration of an ancient Greek temple with the golden ratio spiral overlay, featuring bright colours and clear skies.

videoMathematics

Spiral into the ‘golden ratio’ – and separate the myths from the maths

4 minutes

Photo of a modern house built over a waterfall, surrounded by dense green forest and a rocky stream.

videoArchitecture

A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture

14 minutes

Fisheye photo of a man in a suit leaning close to camera in a laundrette, with two people talking in the background.

videoGender

A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry

5 minutes

Painting of two armoured warriors confronting three hooded witches under a turbulent sky, with one warrior holding a spear.

videoHistory

Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches

13 minutes

Black and white photo of a man with glasses and a beard, resting his chin on his hand, wearing a suit.

videoArt

Background music was the radical invention of a trailblazing composer

17 minutes

A man speaking on stage with a headset microphone wearing glasses and a black sweater gesturing expressively with his hands.

videoMetaphysics

What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?

55 minutes

Surreal abstract painting with eyes, lips and leaf shapes in soft colours on paper.

videoArt

Radical doodles – how ‘exquisite corpse’ games embodied the Surrealist movement

15 minutes