Susanne K. Langer's Epistemology of Mind as an Interpretive Resource for Music Education
Helfer, Jason Aaron
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/79749
Description
Title
Susanne K. Langer's Epistemology of Mind as an Interpretive Resource for Music Education
Author(s)
Helfer, Jason Aaron
Issue Date
2003
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Grashel, John
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Music
Language
eng
Abstract
"Within music education, the work of Susanne K. Langer has often been used to construct or support the idea of music as aesthetic. This study examines the contrary claim that Susanne Langer's work is primarily epistemic rather than aesthetic. This claim is developed and supported through the examination of Langer's corpus from 1922--1962. Throughout her career, Langer presented and developed five conceptual structures: abstraction, intuition (insight), imagination, metaphorical thought, and propositional thought. Each of these ideas, with the eventual inclusion of memory, constructed the Langerian model of mind. Because of the natural human ability to interpret, based upon the conceptual structures, and the tension between an individual interpretant, culture, and the interpretant's previous experiences, an almost infinite number of meanings are formed. Additionally, the act, which contains an initiation, development, and consummation, is the form through which each meaning-making instance is constructed. In this study, Langer's development of the conceptual structures and the act, which includes feeling, the ""felt as"" instances, and the psychical limen, are traced in chapters three, four, and five. In chapter six, the act form is examined within the musical acts of composition, performance, improvisation, description, and critique. For each musical act a scenario is presented and a series of suppositions are constructed for consideration. Furthermore, chapter one introduces the study and provides essential definitions and limitations; chapter two critically examines previous literature; and chapter seven summarizes the study and presents questions for additional research."
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
