For every Greek philosopher, interest in music was almost obligatory quality. According to the beliefs of the Greeks, music was an integral part of the philosophy. Aristotle was not an excpetioon and repeatedly spoke about music.
When starting to discuss the special role of music in an ethical upbringing in his "Politics", Aristotle himself warned that he would only talk about some general issues because much had been said by those who were philosophizing about the music.
As is known, Aristotle clearly distinguishes between theoretical and practical knowledge. Aristotle divides music at the same time into two very different areas: theoretical music that has nothing to do with the practical ability to play musical instruments, and practical skills of performance, which can do completely without music theory. Theoretical music, like all good science, is engaged in research "beginnings and causes" of its subject (Aristotle 110). In this sense, the theoretical music, "harmony" is a derivative of arithmetic. As a kind of theoretical science, harmony has its own unit. It is octothorp or a sharp not. But although all the musical sounds are made up of "sharps" both from their units, melody is not added up from sharps. This remains one of the basic principles of musical harmony today as well.
Aristotle considered poetry and music the highest forms of art. Music has special advantages because it, according to Aristotle, is able to directly express the ethical quality. Aristotle`s teaching of music was empirical and increasingly subordinated to practical aspects. In the center of his attention – were issues of musical education, which he clearly mentioned in the eighth book of his "Politics".
Aristotle revealed social objectives of musical education. He quite clearly appears to us as a representative of the Athenian aristocracy, saying that music education should not pursue any of craft and professional goals. Its purpose is to fill leisure of freeborn citizens. Therefore, the music education should have a goal in itself and combine the aesthetic, moral and intellectual goals.
Among other Aristotelian ideas about music, his teachings about the nature of sound should be noted. Aristotle attempted to describe the qualitative features of different sounds, among which he highlighted strong and weak, smooth and rough, light and dark.
Aristotle understood the nature of sound mechanically, as a movement of air. Therefore, the pleasure people get from music is the pleasure of an orderly movement. In general, the movement, according to Aristotle, is the nature of the music, the rhythm, the melody and the ethical properties of music depend on the movement.
According to Aristotle, practical instrumental and vocal music, like all arts, appeared before the theoretical music. At the same time, experience of musical practice takes certainly secondary and inferior position in comparison with the music theory, although the latter appeared later – when people got to know what leisure was and that gave the opportunity to be engaged in speculative disciplines. By repeatedly conducted Aristotle division of theoretical philosophy of physics, mathematics, and theology, harmony as a theoretical music is not quite differing from mathematics and should be put somewhere between mathematics and physics.
As we see, in his arguments, Aristotle essentially brings music to mathematics, so that it is possible to interpret the music as part of arithmetic. However, such a mathematical understanding of music is not something absolute and unquestioned for Aristotle. Intervals can be determined arithmetically, given the distance between them. But melody is not so easy subjected to mathematical calculation. Putting music among the first principles of being, however, he does not put it so high that it was an essence of universal unity of things. Much of theories of music are adherent to general concepts of musical theory nowadays. Aristotle was among the first to set the basis for further development of musical theory.
In the treatise "Politics", Aristotle also systemically presented his views on education and training. Aristotle gave the utmost importance to public education. He believed that every form of statehood requires proper education. He mentioned also equal expediency ("homogeneous") for the free education of the population in the ideal state. Aristotle allowed home education in traditional forms up to 7 years of age. Father was to be such a teacher. However, he insisted that family education was under the supervision of government officials and rejected the disengagement of parents from bringing up children and found the tradition of upbringing of children by slaves as incorrect. In family, from 5 to 7 years of age, he advised to hold preliminary education (Aristotle 180).
He believed that boys up to seven years were to be educated by the state. In terms of primary education, the following disciplines should be included: grammar, gymnastics, music, and sometimes – drawing. He was offering to start education from "caring for the body," then "taking care of the spirit" in order to "foster a spirit." Gymnastics had to bring the child's body in readiness for the difficult process of development of knowledge. Giving high importance of gymnastics to the education, Aristotle condemned the Spartan tradition of the use of heavy and violent exercise, as a result of which children would become "wild animals". Finally, a special role in the formation of fine beginning was given to music.
Works Cited
Aristotle. Politics. Tran. Benjamin Jowett. Kitchener, Canada: Batoche Books, 1999. Print.
