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In this essay, a quintet of values in doing philosophy of music education are examined: the need for a broad view, a personal perspective, a constructive vision, a relevant plan, and the courage to speak about important issues in music education. The following questions frame the analysis of each, in turn: What do these values mean? What importance do they hold today? How can they be expressed practically in the life and work of philosophers and those interested in the philosophy of music education?
I speak of a quintet of values that goes to the heart of doing philosophy of music education, namely, the need for a broad view, a personal perspective, a constructive vision, a relevant plan, and the courage to speak about issues of importance to music education.
I aspire to these values as ideals, and I suppose that philosophers of music education already share them in one fashion or another. As there is nothing par- ticularly new here, why speak of them again? My sense is that given the particular academic pressures and expectations today, and in the way of philosophy, it is useful to revisit them for our time, and to ask: What do these values mean? What importance do they hold today? How can they be expressed practically in our lives as philosophers and those interested in the philosophy of music education? In response to this nest of questions, I consider each value in turn.
A BROAD VIEW
Philosophy is rooted in the ancient societies of Eurasia and woven into the oral traditions and mythologies of ancient people from Africa, Australia and Oce- ania, and the Americas. Wherever human beings have established civilizations, they have sought answers to existential questions: Where did I come from? What is my purpose in life? Where am I going? Matters of life and death, ethics, aes- thetics, civics, among a host of individual and socio-cultural concerns, persist worldwide and throughout recorded history. Archeological evidence of ancient people caring for those who are disabled and the arts practiced in Stone Age civilizations exemplify persistent and widespread ethical and aesthetic values.1 The ways of philosophizing may differ from time to time and place to place, illustrated by the aphorisms, figurative discourse, and stories of ancient...