The universal forces of sound and rhythm enhance thought and feeling | Aeon Essays

The universal forces of sound and rhythm enhance thought and feeling | Aeon Essays

A philosophy of sound

aeon.co/essays/the-universal-forces-of-sound-and-rhythm-enhance-thought-and-feeling

Christina Rawls

is professor of philosophy at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. She is the co-editor of the essay collection Philosophy and Film: Bridging Divides (2019) and a regular contributor to the American Philosophical Association blog, with an interview series on the philosophy of time.

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3,400 words

Edited by Sally Davies

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When John Lennon was asked in 1975 why so many adults disliked rock and roll, calling it the ‘devil’s music’, he replied: ‘I always thought that it’s because it came from Black music.’ Reflecting on the past 400 years of white supremacy in the United States, including the recent attempted insurrection at the US Capitol in January 2021, I often wonder what Lennon would say of us today. Would he tell us to ‘Imagine there’s no heaven’ or would he sing ‘Stand by me’? Would he cry ‘Mother’ or remind us that love really ‘is the answer’?