Body and Soul: Levinas on the Ethics of Musical Improvisation

Levinas’ ethical system starts on a phenomenological level. According to Morgan it plays out at a pre-theoretical and embodied moment, concerning with the ‘demand’ placed upon me by the Other to acknowledge his exteriority or transcendence (qtd. in Bergo “Emmanuel Levinas”). His work is not so much concerned with general moral rules, as much as the embodied, face-to-face encounter with the person who addresses me (qtd. in Bergo, “Emmanuel Levinas”). This other person resists my understanding. It is in my response to this unknowability that ethicality is assessed (qtd. in Bergo, “Emmanuel Levinas”). I will measure Levinas’ theory against musical improvisation in particular. Why improvisation? Because firstly, it provides us with a musical context which is wholly intersubjective. Musicians improvising together are both listeners and players and must foster a very particular and precise responsiveness to be successful in their musical mission. The ability to build this intimacy is the...Show moreLevinas’ ethical system starts on a phenomenological level. According to Morgan it plays out at a pre-theoretical and embodied moment, concerning with the ‘demand’ placed upon me by the Other to acknowledge his exteriority or transcendence (qtd. in Bergo “Emmanuel Levinas”). His work is not so much concerned with general moral rules, as much as the embodied, face-to-face encounter with the person who addresses me (qtd. in Bergo, “Emmanuel Levinas”). This other person resists my understanding. It is in my response to this unknowability that ethicality is assessed (qtd. in Bergo, “Emmanuel Levinas”). I will measure Levinas’ theory against musical improvisation in particular. Why improvisation? Because firstly, it provides us with a musical context which is wholly intersubjective. Musicians improvising together are both listeners and players and must foster a very particular and precise responsiveness to be successful in their musical mission. The ability to build this intimacy is the defining quality of a good improviser (Hagberg 589). This compassionate, responsive intimacy is also the subject of Levinas’ ethics. In this paper, I will show how these two are analogous, and how musical improvisation can give us a model which enacts this ethical theory, while providing us with a new lens through which to see it.Show less

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Body and Soul: Levinas on the Ethics of Musical Improvisation