5 Playlists for 5 Philosophy Reads
By Charissa Zeigler
The Tractatus – Wittgenstein
After writing the Tractatus Wittgenstein proclaimed that he had solved all of philosophy. This is because the Tractatus was an attempt to dissolve the premises through which philosophy is conducted—language.
For this reason I picked songs having to do with language that were playful like Aldous Harding’s “language poetry” in “The Barrel” or Robert Wyatt’s “Pigs in There.” Language poetry is a style in poetry that emphasizes words and form above meaning.
Otherwise the songs chosen are roving and mournful like the folk song “Tong-Sa-Mei” covered by the artist A-Mei. Or they are on the brink of a violent collapse from some inner striving like Perfume Genius’ “No Front Teeth.”
These two songs reflect the philosopher’s turbulent years such as when he left his wealthy family to teach rural schoolchildren; a career pivot which found Wittgenstein almost brought to court for beating a pupil so hard they collapsed.
However, it’s the final song on the playlist, Sufjan Stevens love song “Futile Devices” that I think captures the essence of Wittgenstein’s claim in the Tractatus—“whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
- Robert Wyatt- Pigs in There
- Perfume Genius- No Front Teeth
- A-Mei-通撒美
- Sufjan Stevens – Futile Devices
- Aldous Harding – The Barrel
The Ethics – Spinoza
When I think of Spinoza I think of Carson McCullers’s novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. One of the characters, Dr. Copeland, is a Black doctor living in the 1930s South. He spends his twilights pouring over Spinoza. Like, Dr. Copeland I found reading Spinoza’s Ethics to be profound.
Spinoza conceptualizes existence as consisting of a singular Nature. I included Caroline Polachek’s “Door” to symbolize his exit from his faith community in search of the freedom to speak openly.
- The Free Nationals- Eternal Light
- Caroline Polachek – Door
- Dave Brubeck – Strange Meadowlark
- Kali Uchis – Muevete
- Simulation Swarm – Big Thief
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding – Hume
I can’t remember too much of Hume from my philosophy class on the empiricists, a group of thinkers who believed that knowledge is derived first from the senses and second from derivations of the mind. However, one thing I remember was pulling up his Wikipedia page and finding out he was very thin as an adolescent, became ill and then found a passion for cheese and eating. I picked “In the Meantime” by SpaceHog which feels silly in the same way that Hume’s change in disposition felt.
- I want to be Well – Sufjan Stevens
- The Sea – Earthling on the Road to Self Love
- In the Meantime- Space Hog
- Fairuz – Ya Ana Ya Ana
- Across the Universe – Fiona Apple
Play: So Deeply our Hearts were Allied – Martha Nussbaum
The New Yorker’s profile of contemporary philosopher Martha Nussbaum, seems to take offense that the play—whose value she argues for in her writings—is not her personality. Nussbaum exemplifies these contradictions in her dialogue between a philosopher daughter and her mother.
Suzanne Vega’s “Solitude Standing” encompasses the sometimes iconoclastic attitude of Nussbaum, at least as depicted in The New Yorker profile. All of the songs I selected have an intensity like the straining love in Zeid Hamdan’s “Ahwak” or are a tad unconventional like Fredric Mompou’s “Prelude No.5.”
“Clams Casino” by Cassandra Jenkins is another great song to listen to while reading her play. This line captures the play’s premise well: “Hey, I might never land on solid ground/ Part of me will always be in the clouds”
- Frederic Mompou Prelude No. 5
- Zeid Hamdan – Ahwak
- Clams Casino – Cassandra Jenkins
- Suzanne Vega- Solitude Standing
- Ride the Dragon- FKA Twigs
The Need for Roots – Simone Weil
Have you ever been overcome by the light of God in a cathedral and made a beeline for Catholic conversion? Have you ever joined a factory to understand the working man’s condition? Have you ever stepped on a vat of boiling water and summarily been sent home from the frontlines as a French resistance fighter? Have you ever starved yourself to death in protest over other’s living conditions? Then boy are you in luck! Simone Weil’s “Need for Roots” uncovers the thoughts you’d have while doing all of the above.
There’s a part of The Need for Roots where Weil encourages children to visit factories in order to be introduced to the sanctity of labor, and now I’m left wondering, do the children long for the mines? Or just “Bread and Roses” like Judy Collins sings in her version of the protest song selected because of Weil’s Marxist leanings.
- Kyrie Eleison – Greek Christian Liturgy
- Here I am, Lord – Table of Plenty John Michael Talbot
- Bread and roses- Judy Collins
- The body is a Blade – Japanese Breakfast
- Imperial Twist- No No Boy
Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia’s Letters to Descartes
Listen to the jazz artist Esperanza Spalding’s cover of the Portuguese song “Ponte De Areia” or Caroline Polachek’s “Spring is Coming with a Strawberry in its Mouth” to get a glimpse of the joy conveyed in Elizabeth’s correspondence with Descartes in which she questions his assertion that the pineal gland is the point through which the mind controls the body. Hear the fast-paced tempo of Sudan Archives “Homemaker” while reading an intellectual conversation in which both Princess Elizabeth and Descartes convey their respect for each other’s ideas.
I can imagine the excitement they both felt opening each other’s letters (go 17th century snail mail!). Jane Remover’s hyperpop “Magic I Want U” can barely contain its glee while The Maria’s sultry “ABQ” conveys a self-assured contentment.
- Ponte de Areia – Esperanza Spalding
- Caroline Polachek – Spring is Coming w/ a Strawberry in its mouth
- Homemaker- Sudan Archives
- The Marias- ABQ
- Jane Remover – Magic I want U