THE SOUND OF MUSIC, EXTERNALIST STYLE

Philosophical exploration of individualism and externalism in the cognitive sciences most recently has been focused on general evaluations of these two views. This paper returns to broaden an earlier phase of the debate by investigating music cognition as one area in the cognitive sciences that might benefit from externalist theorizing. It is argued that individualism has acted as a kind of paradigm for research within music cognition, limiting its theoretical and explanatory horizons. To counter these individualistic tendencies, externalist alternatives are outlined, and a qualified form of externalism about music cognition is offered.