Regarding Young Musicians as Ethical and Aesthetic Practitioners: A New Reading of Phronēsis

Abstract

Abstract:It is well-known that phronēsis is realized when people reflect on their actions (praxis) and act accordingly, but the question of how this concept of practical reasoning can serve both people who make music and at the same time the music they make has not yet been answered. This paper aims to reveal in what way phronēsis can lead to fulfillment in and through music and also to musical quality, especially when people make music with others. First, phronēsis will be explored as it is interpreted in North America and Germany. Second, the German term aesthetic praxis is introduced, because it reveals that phronēsis is significant for this concept. The line of argument aims at showing that the notions of ‘acting ethically’ and ‘acting aesthetically’ do not stand in opposition to each other when people make music. On the contrary, phronēsis is a kind of knowledge that is relevant to an aesthetic praxis and therefore young people should be enabled to practice phronēsis when making music. If this process is intitiated, they are enabled to reflect on their own musical actions, as ethical and aesthetic practitioners.