Does listening to music fall under the category of sensual pleasure?

Answer 1

Very good question! Actually, musicologists have been Wrestling with this question for quite some time, and since I have studied musicology, perhaps I can give my two cents.

I think it would be very difficult to say that listening to music is JUST a sensual pleausre alone. Most people agree that it is not just the sounds we sense (hear) in music that we find pleasurable, but also (to a significant extent) the sense we can make of the sound we hear using our intelletual minds. We do this either by discerning internal patterns and relationships within the music - this bit is louder or faster or higher than this bit, this bit is like that bit from before - or because it reminds us of something outside the music in the real world - such as the sounds of Nature, or a group of people, or a particular time in the past perhaps.

Therefore listening to music is not just sensual but necessarily intellectual also. This intellectual dimension is what sets music apart from other sound experiences we might take pleasure in, such as the rustling of trees or the thundering of a waterfall.

This is not to say that sometimes certain music is enjoyed for its sensual qualities more than its intellectual qualities. Because of its exotic, subtle and colourful timbres, the orchestral music of Debussy is enjoyed for its sensual qualities, for example, while the fugues of J S Bach, played on a simple clavichord, are more likely to be appreciated for their structural, technical, intellectual achievements. Of course, listening to any piece of music you use a bit of raw sense and a bit of intellect mixed together in varying amounts.

So in answer to your question - yes, music does fall under the category of sensual pleasure, but just as much as an activity like going to an art gallery or watching TV. It falls under lots of other aesthetic categories as well. Hope that helps! Adam