As a music major, Book III of Plato's Republic piqued my interest. I found it fascinating that so much time was spent mulling over what types of music should be allowed, down to specific meters and modes. A quote from page 98 says: "Then we can say that good words, good harmony, good grace, and good rhythm follow from the good order and disposition of the soul." Later on the following page it is stated that: "Rhythm and harmonies have the greatest influence on the soul; they penetrate into its inmost regions and there hold fast. If the soul is rightly trained, they bring grace. If not, they bring the contrary" (Plato). These are bold statements that give a lot of power to music. All of this made me curious and I wondered how much of it was accurate. So, I did some research.
An article written by Dr. Arlene Taylor summarizes the observations of Professor Allan Bloom, stating: "Classical music is essentially harmonic as compared with rock music that is rhythmic. Harmonic music appeals more to the mind and makes its listeners more contemplative. Rhythmic music appeals more to the emotions and makes its listeners more passionate." In conclusion, different types of music can evidently impact a person's personality.
I am interested to hear your views on this. In what ways do you think music can influence a person, or do you disagree with this idea?
Sources:
Sterling, Richard W. “Book III.” Plato The Republic, edited by William C. Scott, W. W. Norton & Company, pp. 98–99.
*Edit: Commented on Clabo's post and Rachael Gregson's.
I completely agree that music influences people. Someone has told me that the more upbeat music you listen to in the car, the faster you drive. If you listen to upbeat stuff like video game soundtracks while studying, you have more energy to focus. Personally, I like listening to the soundtrack of the BBC show "Sherlock" the best because it makes me fell like I am solving a case while I am working on homework. Great observation!
ReplyDeleteHi Haley! I really enjoyed reading your post. The idea that different kinds of music influence our moods or personalities is one that I definitely agree with! I have found this to be true of myself. Often, the music I listen to differs according to my mood. Sometimes the sounds are refelctions of my mood. Other times, my mood is inflected by the music. To find that there are scinetific correlations between music and the human brain is not surprising. I think this shows Socrates as beyond his time in understanding.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! Matter of fact, I am currently listening to more "harmonic" music to help me concentrate! I have personally discovered which types of music helps me focus, sleep, cry, or laugh. All of these things are affected by different types of music, and I love using that to my advantage. (My favorite music to study to happens to be along the lines of Hozier, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, or Chopin)
ReplyDeleteI do think music can greatly affect a person. I also believe in the Golden mean for Virtue by Aristotle. With this in mind I think that we all need some small amount of wickedness and trickery in us. That if we are too good we are going to be flawed. I can provide good examples for this but the point is I agree, but believe sometimes music of different spectrums is worth listening to.
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