Experiencing the Production of Sounds

Abstract

Whether or not we would be happy to do without sounds, the idea that our experience of sounds is of things which are distinct from the world of material objects can seem compelling. All you have to do is close your eyes and reflect on the character of your auditory experience. In what follows I will describe the features of our auditory experience which can lead one to think of sounds in this way. I will then describe a way in which we can experience sounds to be part of the material world. Since this is a kind experience that essentially involves more than one sense, I will end by drawing some conclusions about how we should think about the senses.