John and Ken begin by trying to pin down an exact definition for music. Ken proposes that it is a collection of organized sounds, although realizing that there are many organized sounds in the world which we usually don't consider music. John accordingly notes that philosophers and musicologists might consider organization a necessary but not sufficient condition for a set of sounds to be musical. For a long time music was accompanied by voice, but John points out that historically we don't know that much about the details of music except those musical traditions surrounding religion or tradition that were written about or passed on.
Ken指出，音乐对我们具有很大的情感力量，但与其他艺术形式有很大不同。在小说或戏剧中，情感与呈现给观察者的世界相联系，但在音乐中，很难理解情感从何而来。悲伤的音乐几乎都能让人悲伤，但究竟是音乐本身或是我们自身的什么东西让我们如此感动呢?约翰指出，音乐是最早被认为是非具象的艺术形式之一，它与我们的情感有着比其他非具象形式(如抽象视觉艺术)更强的普遍联系。约翰解释了第一品质和第二品质以及哲学之间的区别，并将它们与我们对音乐的情感反应联系起来。肯认为音乐中有某种内在的东西决定了它对我们的影响，他指出，音乐中微小的结构变化可以极大地改变我们的情感体验。
约翰和肯介绍客人彼得·基维;罗格斯大学董事会哲学教授，著有多篇关于音乐哲学的文章和一本书。Peter Kivy首先指出，在随机和无调性音乐风格兴起的当代，将音乐定义为有组织的声音的集合是很麻烦的，尽管Jon怀疑是否真的有人听这样的音乐。彼得·凯维指出，不管怎样，很多音乐都没有人听!为了了解定义音乐有多么困难，约翰和肯演奏了莫扎特的《第41交响曲》的开头部分，并将其与瓦雷兹的《电离》进行了比较。肯指出，音乐可能是那种你在体验时就知道的东西，但却无法精确定义的东西。Peter Kivy提到了一首叫做Talking Fugue的曲子，其中的“音乐”由叠加的对话组成。约翰总结说，音乐似乎是一个概念，包含我们都知道的范例和边缘案例，这些案例可能对一个人来说是音乐，但对另一个人来说不是。Ken进一步指出，称某物为音乐是一种敬语，表示我们对它的欣赏。世界杯赛程2022赛程表欧洲区
Next Ken and John ask Peter to explain how the non-representational art of music, especially wordless music, can produce such passionate emotional responses in people. Peter Kivy believes that it doesn't! Or, at least, that the emotions evinced by music are not the garden variety emotions, but rather a specific love and enthusiasm for the music, an emotional response which does not really have a name. Kivy argues this point through the distinction of good and bad sad music, and how good sad music arouses a stronger feeling of sadness than bad sad music. Ken challenges Peter Kivy with examples of music enhancing garden variety emotions like fear and excitement in movies. Peter acknowledges that the music combined with the film can arouse fear, but points out that the soundtrack alone does not have the same effect. John brings up examples of historically meaningful and patriotic songs as well as anthems which arouse contradictory emotions. Peter Kivy argues that these feelings arise from associations and are not quite aesthetically relevant.
Callers discuss Peter Kivy's theories on the garden variety emotions and music as well as the relationship between mathematics and music, music in movies, and other styles and subjects. Kivy suggests that individuals in other fields may experience the same sort of emotional experience with their subjects that musicians and music-lovers do when they appreciate great pieces. Finally, John and Ken discuss the relationship between the culture of music and ethics, morality, and civilization with Peter Kivy, concluding that music really is an important part of societies around the world.
- The 60-second Philosopher(seek to 4:47): Ian Shoales speeds through the subject of "earworms" or musical jingles that worm into your brain and get stuck in your head forever.
