Meaning

Abstract

This chapter develops two claims that are central to the book’s overall argument. The first is that certain temporal musical objects exist only as ephemera—always remaining outside of symbolic representation. These objects are constituted by lived time, or time as it shows up in human lives. The second claim is that the ephemeral meaning of music consists of its significance, which the author defines as a practical meaning that arises in the moment of one’s perception of, and action upon, one’s immediate environment. Significance is a process that is enacted in the dyadic relationships between environmental affordances—opportunities for and constraints of action—and a situated agent.