Keio University Mita Philosophical Society Lecture Series

2024/05/02

Overview:

The foundation of the “Western modern era” in the history of philosophy and thought can be seen as having been established by Immanuel Kant, reaching its zenith with G.W.F. Hegel of German Idealism. Hegel, who inherited and further developed Kant's rigorous thinking on how “experience” through “consciousness” is possible and what it entails, came to perceive our reality as a series of processes in which “spirit” appears. Ludwig van Beethoven, born in the same year as Hegel, developed Western music of the same period as "thought in sound," opening up entirely new dimensions for both the forms of thought and the possibilities of musical expression.

With these two figures as the main points of reference, this series will feature various related philosophers, thinkers, and composers under a different theme each time. A philosopher and a performer will attempt to approach, from their respective viewpoints, the cultural background of musical works—focusing on philosophy and thought—as well as the substance of the individual works themselves. The ultimate goal of this endeavor is to reconsider what kind of era “modernity” was and what we in the present should inherit from it. This ten-part lecture series will cover themes such as “Passion and Reason,” “The Power of Sorrow,” “The Philosophy of Music,” and “The Fluctuation of Life and Death.” The seventh installment, titled “Where Do Dreams Go?,” will feature the following four works.

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 27, Op. 90

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 13, Op. 27, No. 1

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight,” Op. 27, No. 2

Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 “Fantasie,” D. 894, Op. 78