Resemblance theories of musical expressiveness: the role of empirical evidence - Taylor & Francis
tandfonline.com
Music makes us feel things — but is it because melodies literally mimic the sound of human emotion, and can science actually prove it?
Resemblance TheoryEmbodied CognitionPhilosophy of EmotionAesthetic Formalism
Theory Briefing
- Resemblance theory holds that music feels sad or joyful because it mirrors the vocal and bodily patterns of human emotional expression.
- Empirical evidence — from studies on pitch, tempo, and timbre — is put to the test as a way to validate or challenge these philosophical claims.
- The article asks whether scientific data can settle a centuries-old aesthetic debate about why music moves us at all.