The Meaning of the Form and Substance of Music from the Perspective of John Dewey's Art Philosophy

This study attempts to grasp the meaning of the form and substance of music from the perspective of John Dewey's art philosophy. John Dewey's art philosophy takes nature containing primary contribution and reality as its category. Nature acts as the source of all art's existence as well as the occurrence of form. The organization of nature's vital energies becomes a condition of form. Under this condition, the form of music is always a method of revealing the meaning of music as a fluid, dynamic, and processive aesthetic experience, and the body of music becomes a new and reinforced meaning of music made to be known. Therefore, from the perspective of Dewey's art philosophy, the form and substance of music are possible not as any intellectual structure or frame but as an aesthetic experience, and anyone who experiences music can possess a musical meaning. This ideological perspective not only solidifies the cornerstone of the philosophy of modern music education of ‘music for all people’ but will also serve as an important factor for the aesthetic experience of music as an experience that cultivates metaphorical ability, an essential competency in the AI era.