Being Human

Lydia Goehr is a professor of philosophy at Columbia University. Her work focuses on aesthetic theory, particularly the history and philosophy of music. Her first book, The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works, was widely influential for its exploration of what she calls the “work-concept,” or the set of beliefs and assumptions that have governed the West's performance and appreciation of music for the last 200 years. In her book, Professor Goehr shows various implications of the work-concept, such as musicians’ believing that they should carefully follow a score rather than improvising around its central theme, or spectators feeling that they should sit quiet and still throughout a performance.