Contributions and limits of classical Greek philosophy to music and music education today: Music as a mimesis of objective reality

Abstract

This article aims to identify contributions and limits of classical Greek philosophy to current thoughts on music and musical formation. Through a bibliographic study of works in the field of philosophy, musicology, and education, we analyze the fundamentals on the nature of music and musical formation that appear in Ancient Greek philosophical thought. Next, based mainly on the considerations of György Lukács, we discuss the importance of these conceptions to overcome the subjectivist and formalistic perspectives of music and music education, highlighting the dialectical character of the notion of music as an objective mimesis present in Greek thought. Thus, classical philosophy can help us understand the social meaning of musical practice and its educational processes, showing us ways to reflect on the current condition of music in our society. On the other hand, the idealistic character of these conceptions prevents us from capturing the historical and concrete meaning of this social role, thereby also demonstrating limits to overcome.