Title: Pragmatism, music and emotion: bridging the Organisational Aesthetics subject-object divide

Authors: Richard Cocks, James Reveley

Addresses: Department of Philosophy, State University of New York, Oswego, NY 13126, USA. ' School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Commerce, University of Wollongong, NSW2522, Australia

Abstract: This paper applies pragmatist aesthetics to a longstanding philosophical problem concerning how instrumental music affects the emotions. This use of pragmatism provides a way of bridging a subject-object divide that has plagued the discipline of Organisational Aesthetics (OA) since its inception. The preoccupation of organisational aestheticians with epistemological issues separates aesthetic experiences from the objects of those experiences. By contrast, we use an avowedly |non-epistemological| variety of pragmatism, epitomised by the work of John Dewey, to overcome this divide. In so doing, we critique formalist philosophical treatments of the connection between music and emotion. Our paper places organisational studies of music on a firmer philosophical footing, and contributes to the contemporary pragmatist theory of aesthetics and emotions.

Keywords: emotion; pragmatism; organisational aesthetics; instrumental music; philosophy; pragmatist aesthetics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2007.017014

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2007 Vol.2 No.2, pp.129 - 144

Published online: 04 Feb 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article