How Stoicism influenced music from the French Renaissance to Pink Floyd
Have you ever turned to music when struggling with a difficult emotion, like sadness, anxiety or anger?
Most people believe that music has some therapeutic power, and that confidence is increasingly backed by empirical evidence. However, there remains little consensus on precisely how or why music has an ability to influence our emotional, physical and mental well-being.
Since ancient times, physicians and philosophers have explored the power of music in human life. Although the writings of Plato and Aristotle are more famous, another ancient school of philosophy, Stoicism, cultivated an interest in music’s therapeutic potential.