Talk Federico Lauria (CISA lecture series)

04.11.2025 12:15 – 13:15

The Epistemic Value of Sad Music: Reflection as a Motivation to Listen to Sad Music

Why do people enjoy sad music? Recently, empirical studies on this issue exploded and offer valuable insights into the paradox of sad music. Importantly, it appears that people listen to sad music especially when they feel sad (contextual issue). Personal traits, notably empathy and absorption, predict the enjoyment of sad music (personal issue). And the perils of sad music, particularly rumination, are well documented (dysfunctional issue). This article uses these findings to refine the paradox of sad music. I argue that the main philosophical accounts fail to address the refined paradox. As a remedy, I offer a solution that relies on the epistemic function of sadness. Sadness motivates reflection and comes with epistemic benefits, such as more realistic beliefs and an analytic mindset. I claim that sadness’ epistemic value illuminates the allure of sad music. People listen to sad music, especially when they feel sad, because they exploit the reflective mindset of sadness. I offer three arguments that pertain to the contextual, personal, and dysfunctional issues raised by the refined paradox: the reflective mindset nicely illuminates these issues. As sad music helps us to reflect on what truly matters, it is no wonder that people often deem it profound.

ON SITE

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ZOOM MEETING

https://unige.zoom.us/j/69175256331?pwd=QbYJH4bwfY4hnFhuJTK9SlbsDbqaZC.1

Meeting ID: 691 7525 6331
Passcode: 888998

Lieu

Bâtiment: Campus Biotech

H8-01-D

entrée libre