Abstract:

Philosophical concept is one of the facets of musical expression. Because music does not contain language-like semantics, music listeners often find it difficult to understand philosophical concepts in music. The proposed research examines the cognitive and neural bases of the processing of philosophical concepts in musicians and non-musicians through three experiments: philosophical meaning emerging from non-symbolic musical themes, from symbolic musical themes, and from large-scale relations. The findings will reveal the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the perception of philosophical concepts as induced by different extramusical signals, and the effect of musical training on the processing of extramusical meaning. This will provide clear evidence as to whether and to what extent the understanding of musical meaning is universal in humans.

Key words: music, philosophical concept, neural mechanisms, musical training, meaning comprehension