Egotism, Elitism, and the Ethics of Musical Humility

Blending philosophy, empirical research, and pop culture references, Egotism, Elitism, and the Ethics of Musical Humility takes a penetrating look at how our striving for individual achievement can lead us to grow disconnected from one another-and how humility can help us restore our common humanity. In exploring the dangers of egotism and inadequacy in our musical lives, Coppola unpacks how institutional and systemic structures like racial oppression, gender inequity, and the neoliberal drive for continual growth and achievement perpetuate ideologies of elitism and exclusion. By reframing our understanding of ethical responsibility as a collective rather than an individual concern, the book offers musical humility as an empowering virtue in which we are driven to uplift ourselves and others to celebrate our shared humanity and artistic dignity. By embracing musical humility, musicians, educators, and scholars can contribute to social change efforts by fostering honest self-reflection, facilitating meaningful dialogue, and embracing the ethical tensions inherent to our artistic lives.

Egotism, Elitism, and the Ethics of Musical Humility examines how cultures of superiority pervade our musical lives and explores ways in which we can challenge them. Combining philosophical inquiry, empirical research, and pop culture examples, William J. Coppola takes a look at how striving for individual achievement can lead us to grow disconnected from one another--and how humility can help us restore our common humanity.To begin, Coppola critiques the damaging effects of egotism on individual musical development and highlights the importance of knowing one''s strengths and limitations and engaging with other artists as equal partners. He then goes further, examining how institutional structures like racial oppression, gender inequity, and the neoliberal drive for continual growth and achievement perpetuate ideologies of elitism and exclusion. Ethical responsibility, he argues, extends beyond individual failings into confronting these systemic societal ailments. Finally, Coppola outlines the transformative potentials of musical humility as an empowering virtue for musicians and music educators to achieve the fullest artistic realization of themselves and others.Musical humility is more than just knocking ourselves down a peg from time to time; it is about uplifting ourselves--and others--to celebrate our shared humanity and artistic dignity. By embracing musical humility, musicians and music educators can contribute to social change by fostering self-reflection, facilitating dialogue, and embracing the ethical tensions inherent to our musical lives.