Robust Praxialism and the Anti-Aesthetic Turn

Abstract

In this paper I retrace the line of thought that led me to the position of a praxial philosophy of music education, from a perspective 20 years after the inaugural meeting of the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education. I discuss how I conceive of the general project of the philosophy of music education and recapitulate some of the strategies that might be deployed. In doing this I stress the “robust” or radical nature of the praxial program. I then address what I call the “anti-aesthetic” turn that some writers have taken with respect to the praxial position. I argue that there is no principled reason to adopt such a position and that, among other things, such a position undermines the reach and threatens the cogency of a robust praxial program. I end with a few comments on what I take to be the prospects of a praxial approach to the philosophy of music education. At the first meetings of the international society for the Philosophy of Music education in 1990, i read a paper entitled, “What should one expect from a Philosophy of Music education?” in which i set forth what i then called a “pr axial” approach to the philosophy of music education. in what follows i would like to return to that theme and do several things. First, i want to retrace the line