Pessi Parviainen : When Nothing is Called Music

What is music? Philosophers have pondered this question for centuries. In his thesis When Nothing is Called Music: Towards Ecological Composition Pessi Parviainen makes a radical proposition: what if we called nothing music? How would the change affect our understanding and our practices? A non-dogmatic discourse without 'music' would align better with practice. It would also open up unprecedented possibilities for synergy between areas of culture and society. Parviainen finds grounds for this proposition in artistic practice, philosophy of language and history. He presents an unusual version of the conceptual history of music, following the path of the word throughout time. The dogmatism of the word and concept 'music' is revealed as a surprisingly severe ethical problem.