Abstract
Starting with Husserl (philosophy of consciousness: lifeworld) over Heidegger (fundamental ontology: being-in the-world) to Merleau-Ponty (phenomenology of the body: être au monde), a radicalization of ontology can be pointed out because of a consideration of the body as an access to perceive and understand being-in-the-world. Thus, Heidegger’s fundamental ontology is an important approach to an embodied phenomenology. While Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology is based on an apodictic Ego cogito (transcendental reduction: epoché) that leads to difficulties in the constitution of the others as to their consciousness, Martin Heidegger solves this problem of solipsism in form of a fundamental ontology. Each individual meets the world in the coexistence with others (being-with). This openness of being-in-the-world unlocks the door for music educational prospects. Making music is always a bodily act. Therefore, the concept of aesthetical/musical experience depends no longer on a primacy of perception/listening as many traditional aesthetic theories. Inter-subjective and inter-corporal dimensions become relevant because the subject is embodied in and through music. Music instruments are anchored in the world as an extension of the expressive and engaged body. Making music is an ontological interpretation of the world considering all inner-worldly existing.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
From an etymological point of view the word ‘Körper’ refers to the latin ‘corpus’ or the Middle High German ‘lîch’. ‘Leib’ comes from the word ‘lîp’.
- 3.
There are many different interpretations of this quote, because the French word ‘corps’ in German can be translated both as Körper or Leib. Marcel for himself uses the German terminology. Even the question, if ‘being’ or ‘having’ belongs to ‘Körper’ or ‘Leib’ is discussed differently. The difference between Körper and Leib isn’t often translated correctly. In English texts the uniform meaning body is used. See Oberhaus 2006.
- 4.
See Merleau-Ponty 1962.
- 5.
In the following the word body always obtains to the phenomenological body (=Leib).
- 6.
See Husserl 1955.
- 7.
See Husserl 1977.
- 8.
“Unter den eigentlich gefassten Körpern dieser Natur finde ich dann in einziger Auszeichnung meinen Leib, nämlich als den einzigen, der nicht bloß Körper ist, sondern eben Leib, als das einzige Objekt innerhalb meiner abstraktiven Weltschicht, dem ich erfahrungsgemäß Empfindungsfelder zurechne, […], das einzige ‘in’ dem ich unmittelbar ‘schalte und walte’, und insonderheit walte in jedem seiner ‘Organe’ (Husserl 1995: 99).
- 9.
See Heidegger 1962.
- 10.
Even Kevin Aho states that Heidegger fails to discuss ‘the body’ in Being and Time, which has generated a cottage industry of criticism. He shows parallels between Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. Aho argues, that Heidegger’s neglect of the body affects his early project of fundamental ontology. Any analysis of the body is ‘ontic’ or regional and is made possible only on the basis of Dasein. See Aho 1969 and Heidegger 2001.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
“Das hergestellte Werk verweist nicht nur auf das Wozu seiner Verwendbarkeit und das Woraus seines Bestehens, in einfachen handwerklichen Zuständen liegt in ihm zugleich die Verweisung auf den Träger und Benutzer. Das Werk wird ihm auf den Leib geschnitten, er” ist “im Entstehen des Werkes mit dabei” (Heidegger 1993, 70). The English translation uses the word “figure” to translate “Leib”; see also page 111.
- 14.
“Wer im Miteinanderreden schweigt, kann eigentlicher ‘zu verstehen’ geben. […] Schweigen heißt nicht stumm zu sein”. (Heidegger 1993: 164).
- 15.
“Das Hören konstituiert sogar die primäre und eigentliche Offenheit des Daseins für sein eigenstes Seinkönnen, als Hören der Stimme des Freundes, den jedes Dasein bei sich trägt. Das Dasein hört, weil es versteht” (Heidegger 1993: 163).
- 16.
- 17.
See Heidegger’s critique of technology in Heidegger 1963.
- 18.
See Merleau-Ponty 1962.
- 19.
- 20.
See also Sartre 2001.
- 21.
Merleau-Ponty underlines that the body understands (!) movements.
- 22.
- 23.
“Erleben des musizierenden Körpers als Erkenntnisinstrument für sämtliche Spielvorgänge” gefordert.
- 24.
See Fritsch 1992.
- 25.
See Husserl 1995.
- 26.
See Varela et al. 1991.
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Oberhaus, L. (2015). Body – Music – Being. Making Music as Bodily Being in the World. In: Pio, F., Varkøy, Ø. (eds) Philosophy of Music Education Challenged: Heideggerian Inspirations. Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9319-3_6
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