A PLATONIC MODEL Brian D. Josephson Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, U.K email: bdj10@cam.ac.uk and Tethys Carpenter Department of Music, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham, Surrey TW2 0EX, U.K. (conference proceedings to be published by MIT Press) ABSTRACT We present an account of the phenomenon of music based upon the hypothesis that there is a close parallel between the mechanics of life and the mechanics of mind, a key factor in the correspondence proposed being the existence of close parallels between the concepts of gene and musical idea. The hypothesis accounts for the specificity, complexity, functionality and apparent arbitrariness of musical structures. An implication of the model is that music should be seen as a phenomenon of transcendental character, involving […] Read More