On feeling the dance : motor response and its place in dance appreciation
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Philosophy, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Heckman, Ian
issued: 2022-05-26T20:56:04Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: When we watch others dance, it has been claimed that we do not just use vision and hearing to appreciate dance, but that we also use motor responses. This has been a staple of thinking about dance and its appreciation since the early 20th century, but it has not drawn much attention in philosophy until recently. Recent advances in the sciences of the mind point to the existence of mirror system in the human brain, such that it seems when we watch movement, we are mirroring performing that movement in our brains. Barbara Montero proposed that this mirroring system could underlie motor response and allow us to appreciate dance. A resulting debate occurred between those skeptical of motor response in dance appreciation and those who were optimistic. I argue for a somewhat extreme version of optimism: that motor response is necessary for a full appreciation of most dances. I begin by examining and arguing against skeptical challenges to the place of motor response in dance appreciation. I then turn to the dance studies literature as my guide for how to go about understanding dance and motor response more fully. What is needed, I ask, for an account of motor response that does justice to the ways in which the danceworld understands it? Using insights gained from this delve into dance studies, I then turn to the existing accounts of motor response and find them wanting. I propose that existing automatic accounts of motor response need to be supplemented with an understanding of motor response as an activity. After defeating motor response skepticism and amending existing accounts of motor response, I set my eyes on answering how motor response is involved in dance appreciation. I argue that it is necessary for the appreciation of gracefulness, an aesthetic property that has been strongly associated with dance for most of its history. I further go on to argue that motor response could also be used to explain how dance can express emotion.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/81640
note: ON FEELING THE DANCE: MOTOR RESPONSE AND ITS PLACE IN DANCE APPRECIATION by Ian Heckman A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Philosophy) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) May 2022 © Ian Heckman, 2022 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: On Feeling the Dance: Motor Response and Its Place in Dance Appreciation submitted by Ian Heckman in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Examining Committee: Dominic McIver Lopes, Distinguished University Scholar and Professor, Philosophy, UBC Supervisor Christopher Mole, Professor, Philosophy, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Evan Thompson, Professor, Philosophy, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Rebecca Todd, Associate Professor, Psychology, UBC University Examiner Leigh VanHandel, Associate Professor, Music Theory, UBC University Examiner Additional Supervisory Committee Members: David Davies, Professor, Philosophy, McGill University Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract When we watch others dance, it has been claimed that we do not just use vision and hearing to appreciate dance, but that we also use motor responses. This has been a staple of thinking about dance and its appreciation since the early 20th century, but it has not drawn much attention in philosophy until recently. Recent advances in the sciences of the mind point to the existence of mirror system in the human brain, such that it seems when we watch movement, we are mirroring performing that movement in our brains. Barbara Montero proposed that this mirroring system could underlie motor response and allow us to appreciate dance. A resulting debate occurred between those skeptical of motor response in dance appreciation and those who were optimistic. I a…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0413699
language: eng
degree discipline: Philosophy
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Lopes, Dominic
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/81640