The Minister. A one-act opera in six scenes.

Synopsis and libretto, privately recorded first performance, and score

La ontología de las obras musicales

[ES] Confronta ciertos enigmas surgidos en torno a la naturaleza e identidad de la obra musical, y rechaza estos enigmas por irreales: o bien ellos conciernen a la obra musical en sí misma, en cuyo caso son enigmas acerca del estatus metafísico de un objeto intencional, y por lo tanto susceptibles a una solución arbitraria, o bien ellos conciernen a los sonidos con los que la obra es escuchada, en cuyo caso simplemente se trata de casos especiales de los problemas concernientes a la naturaleza e identidad de los eventos.[EN] Confronts certain puzzles raised about the nature and identity of the musical work, and dismisses these puzzles as unreal: either they concern the musical work itself, in which case they are puzzles about the metaphysical status of an intentional object, and therefore susceptible to an arbitrary solution, or they concern the sounds in which the work is heard, in which case they are simply special cases of the problems concerning the nature and identity of events

The Minister

Full orchestral score. This item is made available in OpenBU by permission of its author."The action takes place in the South of England at some time during the nineteen sixties. Richard Hughes, Member of Parliament for the seaside town of Higglesham, has been appointed to the Cabinet, so fulfilling a life-long ambition, only to realize the emptiness of a success that he enjoys alone. Stepping into the future he had coveted, he finds himself without support, falling from 'is' to 'might have been', and from 'might have been to 'was'. Over dinner with two important members of his constituency, the Minister confronts the ghosts that have been haunting him, and renounces a life whose emptiness he can no longer deny. The catalyst of this event is an enigmatic young servant, sent by a catering agency, and the drama is a kind of No play, in which the fault-lines of a life give way to reveal another world beyond." [Libretto synopsis

Art and imagination, a study in the philosophy of mind

My intention is to show that, starting from an empiricist philosophy of mind, it is possible to give a systematic account of aesthetic experience. I argue that empiricism involves a certain theory of meaning and truth; one problem is to show how this theory is compatible with the activity of aesthetic judgment. I investigate and reject two attempts to delimit the realm of the aesthetic: one in terms of the individuality of the aesthetic object, and the other in terms of 'aesthetic properties'. I go on to argue that aesthetic descriptions must not be thought to ascribe properties to their objects, and I show how the suggestion that they are non-descriptive need not conflict with the empiricist view of meaning. The problem is then seen to lie with the analysis of the 'acceptance-conditions' of aesthetic descriptions. I counter certain idealist objections to this approach, and then present a theory of imagination, in terms of which the acceptance conditions of aesthetic judgments may be described. This theory attempts to explain how the element of thought in aesthetic appreciation may become inseparable from an experience of its object, and how the aesthetic emotions are both like and unlike their equivalents in life. The first part concludes with an analysis of the general conditions of aesthetic experience. I try to show that aesthetic experience can be described in terms of certain 'formal' properties, independently of its material object. In the second part I am concerned to show that this empiricist theory of aesthetics does not, like most empiricist theories, make nonsense of our appreciation of art. First, I attempt to show that 'understanding' art is not merely a cognitive process, but involves certain experiences that can be accounted for in terms of the previous theory. I then analyse the concepts of representation and expression, and in the course of this analysis I attempt to refute what I take to be the most serious rival analysis of our appreciation of art - the semantic theory

Sejarah singkat filsafat modern

ix, 345 p.; 21 cm

Música y Moralidad

[ES]El presente ensayo hace una reflexión sobre la relación entre la música y la moral, y en particular, ofrece una respuesta filosófica a dos cuestiones importantes: ¿Puede atribuirse un carácter moral concreto a la música?, y, de ser así, ¿cómo afecta este carácter moral musical al sentido moral de las personas que escuchan esa música? Estas preguntas llevan a una reflexión final sobre los límites de la interpretación crítica de la obra musical.[EN]This essay reflects on the relationship between music and morality, and in particular, provides a philosophical answer to two important questions: Can moral character be specifically attributed to music?, and, if so, how does this moral musical character affect on the moral sense of the people who listen to this music? These questions lead to a final reflection on the limits of critical interpretation of the musical work