On the Values of Music and Music Education
David J. Elliott · Philosophy of Music Education Review · 1993
At first glance, music-making and musiclistening are strangely impractical endeavors. There is no obvious biological reason for the existence of MUSIC as a diverse human practice. At the same time, life without musicing and music-listening would not be human as we know it. Homo sapiens is the species that musics. In other words, that MUSIC is significant is not in dispute, only why? The following discussion introduces several proposals from a more comprehensive study of the nature and significance of MUSIC as a diverse human practice.1 In doing so, it also attempts to prepare the way for an explanation of the values and aims of MUSIC education.