The concept of music evolution in Herbert Spencer’s and Charles Darwin’s theories

Filozofija i Društvo

关键词: Charles Darwin;    discourses on music;    evolutionism;    music evolution;    Herbert Spencer;    the origin of music;   

DOI  :  10.2298/FID1203253P

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This paper deals with the discourses on music in Herbert Spencer’s andCharles Darwin’s theories of evolution. Even though both Spencer and Darwinconstrued music as a carrier of the expression of affects and a part of aubiquitous evolutional process towards ever increasing progress of culture,these authors’ discourses differed from each other in the understanding ofthe origin and function of music. Darwin considered music as being one of the(natural) means of making a selection during the process of evolution of thehumans as a biological species. Notwithstanding certain similarities toDarwin, Spencer (as well as his followers) discussed music as a part of asocio-cultural evolution, which entailed an approach to music as a historicaland cultural phenomenon. I will here elaborate the position of the discourseson music in Spencer’s and Darwin’s general theories of evolution, point outto the relevant aspects of the concept of music evolution and mention theinfluence that these theories had on the 19th-century official discourses onmusic.

【 授权许可】

Unknown