Experiential Aesthetics: Humility, Ineffability, and Music

In Music and the Ineffable (1961), Vladimir Jankelevitch argued that music can elicit endless talk, but such talk gives nothing back to the music. The experience of music remains sui generis and ineffable; while analysis and interpretation can be beneficial, they do not change this stubborn fact. Thus, writings about music should be anchored in humility. Just as the scientist and theologian stand in awe before their subjects, hoping to learn something but accepting that mysteries lie beyond their reach, so too should music scholars recognize the limits of their craft. This paper suggests that experiential aesthetics, which centers real-time experience over after-the-fact analysis, provides a humbling corrective to intellectual approaches to aesthetics, which give priority to rational artistic assessments. Keywords: Experientialism, theology, mysticism, Vladimir Jankelevitch, Rudolf Otto, Hasidism