Friday, July 23, 2010
Rejoicing Correctly
One of the oddities of Aristotle's Politics--at least for the modern reader--is that it ends with a somewhat lengthy discussion of music, which would have been even lengthier if the complete work had come down to us. But when we remember that Aristotle was a student of Plato, who taught that "the ways of poetry and music are not changed anywhere without change in the most important laws of the city," we will begin to see why Aristotle placed so much importance on the role of music in the polis.
Aristotle, like his teacher, recognizes that music has a profound power. But what is this power good for? Aristotle rejects the idea that music should be a mere amusement like "sleep and deep drinking" (Bk. VIII.iv.3;1339a17), or even that it should be an intellectual entertainment for the cultured (1339a25). Instead, he emphasizes its formative influence on the soul, and its ability to help the young develop virtue.
But, virtue sounds boring, and it also sounds like hard work--which Aristotle admits, when he calls education in virtue a "painful process" (μετὰ λύπης γὰρ ἡ μάθησις). So, why regulate music in what is bound to be a painful process for the young?
Aristotle's answer is simple, but profound: Music must be regulated so that the young can learn to "rejoice correctly" (χαίρειν ὀρθῶς). Good music helps the young to govern their emotions, and to attain happiness. In a later part of the discussion, Aristotle repeats this very same phrase phrase, and then adds two more emotions that need to be learned correctly: love and hatred (1340a15).
So, why should we pay attention to what kind of music we listen to? So that we can love, hate, and rejoice correctly.
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3 comments:
Very intriguing. In modern America, what would such "regulation" of music look like? The state could not undertake such without undermining the whole liberal basis of our society. But perhaps there are other modes of regulation worth considering: the selection of music for sacred liturgy or parents' regulation of the music their children hear. (And, I might mention, "regulation" need to be limited to prohibition, but should also be understood to include more positive forms of encouragement.) Perhaps most importantly, as individuals we should be self-governed, regulating what we hear, thereby fostering virtue within our souls.
Maybe this is a possible scheme for regulation.
1. Learn to govern yourself.
2. Raise your children properly so that they can govern themselves.
3. Muzzle Lady Gaga.
Tom Spence of Spence Publishing (a company in Dallas with UD connections) wrote a piece for today's Wall Street Journal in which he talks about the importance of encouraging boys to read, so that they can, according to Aristotle, "both delight in and be pained by the things that we ought." I don't whether this quotation comes from the Politics, but it is clearly a slightly different formulation of the same idea of education as training in "rejoicing correctly."
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