Performative passivity: Lessons on phenomenology and the extended musical mind with the Danish String Quartet
Music and Consciousness 2 April 11, 2019 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198804352.003.0008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that philosophical literature construes musical absorption too narrowly through reflective and pre-reflective self-awareness, and proposes 'performative passivity,' grounded in Husserl's notion of passivity, to capture experiences like 'It wasn't I who played the music,' with the body, emotions, and the music itself centrally involved. |
Abstract
Abstract: Based on interviews with the Danish String Quartet, this chapter points to limitations in the philosophical literature that construes musical absorption primarily as involving various forms of reflective and pre-reflective self-awareness. It then shows the paradigmatic experience of musical absorption as being expressed in statements such as ‘It wasn’t I who played the music’ or ‘The music played/came by itself’. To understand this type of experience, the chapter presents a new framework of ‘performative passivity’, relying on an analysis of the Husserlian notion of passivity or passive synthesis. Finally, it shows how the body, the performer’s emotions, and the nature of the performed music are centrally involved in performative passivity.
Comparable studies
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| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- The earliest sense of self and others: Merleau‐Ponty and recent developmental studies Philosophical Psychology June 1, 1996
- Applying Intelligence to the Reflexes: Embodied Skills and Habits between Dreyfus and Descartes Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology 2011
- Musical Manipulations and the Emotionally Extended Mind January 5, 2015
- Affordances and the musically extended mind. Frontiers in Psychology January 6, 2014