ABSTRACT
Science and religion have long been intertwined with philosophy and have engaged philosophers for centuries. They are germane to the development of music philosophy for at least four reasons: (1) Science and religion are representative of the kinds of matters that occupy the thoughts of philosophers. They serve as exemplars of philosophical thinking. (2) In reviewing these topics in a broad, general way, we will introduce many of the philosophers whose ideas we will discuss more thoroughly in Section II. (3) By starting to think about issues related to science and religion now, you will be preparing yourself to engage at a deeper level as we get further into more detailed discussions of the same questions later in the book. (4) Both of these topics have a direct relationship to music. In developing your own ideas, you will be free to adopt a position along a range of possibilities; however, your philosophy will be much stronger because you have made thoughtful choices based on some degree of familiarity with the nuances of various positions on each of these topics. You will choose the degree to which you incorporate or disregard scientific findings about music and you will decide whether and to what degree your philosophy has a faith basis.
