"> Context • The past few years have presented us with a growing amount of theoretical research (yet that is often based on neuroscientific developments) in the field of enactive music cognition. > Problem • Current cognitivist and...
more"> Context • The past few years have presented us with a growing amount of theoretical research (yet that is often
based on neuroscientific developments) in the field of enactive music cognition. > Problem • Current cognitivist and
embodied approaches to music cognition suffer, in our opinion, from a too firm commitment to the explanatory role
of mental representations in musical experience. This particular problem can be solved by adopting an enactive approach
to music cognition. > Method • We present and compare cognitivist, embodied and enactive approaches to
music cognition and review the current research in enactive music cognition. > Results • We find that, in general, the
enactive approaches to human musicality are capable of explaining the basic relationship between a musical subject
and a musical object according to a pre-conceptual and pre-linguistic form of understanding related to bodily motor
expertise. This explanation does not rely on on sophisticated forms of representation. > Implications • Proponents of
enactive music cognition should, in our opinion, focus on providing a consistent explanation of the most basic level of
musical understanding. > Constructivist content • We hope to invite the constructivist community to engage with the
discussions on the intersection between music and enactivism. > Key words • Music, cognition, embodiment, enactivism,
musical understanding"
