Hamilton - Music, Madness, and the Unworking of Language

Music, Madness, and the Unworking of Language

COLUMBIA THEMES IN PHILOSOPHY, SOCIAL CRITICISM, AND THE ARTS

Columbia Themes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the Arts

Lydia Goehr and Gregg M. Horowitz, editors

Advisory Board

J. M. Bernstein

Nol Carroll

T. J. Clark

Arthur C. Danto

Martin Donougho

David Frisby

Boris Gasparov

Eileen Gillooly

Thomas S. Grey

Miriam Bratu Hansen

Robert Hullot-Kentor

Michael Kelly

Richard Leppert

Janet Wolff

Columbia Themes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the Arts presents monographs, essay collections, and short books on philosophy and aesthetic theory. It aims to publish books that show the ability of the arts to stimulate critical reflection on modern and contemporary social, political, and cultural life. Art is not now, if it ever was, a realm of human activity independent of the complex realities of social organization and change, political authority and antagonism, cultural domination and resistance. The possibilities of critical thought embedded in the arts are most fruitfully expressed when addressed to readers across the various fields of social and humanistic inquiry. The idea of philosophy in the series title ought to be understood, therefore, to embrace forms of discussion that begin where mere academic expertise exhausts itself, where the rules of social, political, and cultural practice are both affirmed and challenged, and where new thinking takes place. The series does not privilege any particular art, nor does it ask for the arts to be mutually isolated. The series encourages writing from the many fields of thoughtful and critical inquiry.

The Don Giovanni Moment, edited by Lydia Goehr and Daniel Herwitz

Things Beyond Resemblance, by Robert Hullot-Kentor

Arts Claim to Truth, by Gianni Vattimo, edited by Santiago Zabala,

translated by Luca DIsanto

Columbia University Press

Publishers Since 1893

New York Chichester, West Sussex

Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press

All rights reserved

E-ISBN 978-0-231-51254-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hamilton, John T.

Music, madness, and the unworking of language / John T. Hamilton.

p. cm.(Columbia themes in philosophy, social criticism, and the arts)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-231-14220-5 (cloth : alk. paper)ISBN 978-0-231-51254-1 (e-book) 1. MusicPhilosophy and aestheticsHistory. 2. Music and language. 3. MusicPsychological aspectsHistory. I. Title. II. Series.

ML3800.H246 2008

780.1dc22

2007036012

Designed by Lisa Hamm

A Columbia University Press E-book.

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References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.

For Jasper and Henry

avant toute chose

Split the Larkand youll find the Music

Emily Dickinson

Contents

I REFER THROUGHOUT to the original texts and, when available, offer standard English translations, supplying a second page reference. In general, these translations have been modified toward greater literalness. Unless otherwise noted, all other translations are my own.

Spelling in the primary sources has not been modernized. For collected editions, volume number is followed by the page reference or, where relevant, a book number and then a page reference. References to the Weimarer Ausgabe of Goethes Werke are to section, volume, and page.

Concerning ancient Greek, I have chosen to transliterate single words for the sake of comparison, while retaining the original alphabet for longer phrases and citations.

References to Platos works are from John Burnets edition (Platonis Opera, 5 vols. [Oxford: Clarendon, 197276]). In translating into English, I have consulted the Complete Works, ed. John M. Cooper (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997). For the convenience of the reader with different translations, I have simply marked each citation with the conventional manuscript number.

The following abbreviations are used for frequently cited editions:

What then is madness, in its most general but most concrete form, for anyone who immediately challenges any hold that knowledge might have upon it? In all probability, nothing other than the absence of work [labsence de luvre].

MICHEL FOUCAULT, HISTORY OF MADNESS