Mind, Body, World- Foundations of Cognitive Science, 2013a

6
Classical Music and Cognitive Science
6.0 Chapter Overview
In the previous three chapters I have presented the elements of three different
approaches to cognitive science: classical, connectionist, and embodied. In the current
chapter I present a review of these elements in the context of a single topic:
musical cognition. In general, this is done by developing an analogy: cognitive science
is like classical music. This analogy serves to highlight the contrasting characteristics
between the three approaches of cognitive science, because each school of
thought approaches the study of music cognition in a distinctive way.
These distinctions are made evident by arguing that the analogy between cognitive
science and classical music is itself composed of three different relationships:
between Austro-German classical music and classical cognitive science, between
musical Romanticism and connectionist cognitive science, and between modern
music and embodied cognitive science. One goal of the current chapter is to develop
each of these more specific analogies, and in so doing we review the core characteristics
of each approach within cognitive science.
Each of these more specific analogies is also reflected in how each school of
cognitive science studies musical cognition. Classical, connectionist, and embodied
cognitive scientists have all been involved in research on musical cognition, and
they have not surprisingly focused on different themes.
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