What is Sound

Bibliographic Data

ID3204875
AuthorsRobert Pasnau (0000-0003-0193-0261, Saint Joseph's University, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume49
Issue196
Pages309-324
Publication date1999-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Philosophical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8094 • E-ISSN: 1467-9213
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1467-9213.00144
OpenAlexW1994073910
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited2

Our standard view about sound is incoherent. On the one hand, we suppose that sound is a quality, not of the object that makes the sound, but of the surrounding medium. This is the supposition of our ordinary language, modern science and a long philosophical tradition. On the other hand, we suppose that sound is the object of hearing. This too is the assumption of ordinary language, modern science and a long philosophical tradition. Yet these two assumptions cannot both be right – not unless we wish to concede that hearing is illusory and that we do not listen to the objects that make sounds. To avoid these consequences we must recognize and repair the inconsistencies contained in our standard view of what sound is. I offer an account that describes sound as a quality belonging, not to the medium, but to the object that makes the sound

Acoustics · Epistemology · Linguistics · Object (grammar) · Physics · Quality (philosophy) · Sound (geography) · Sound Quality · Speech recognition · Computer Science · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy · Philosophy · Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies