pt. 1. The Garden of Eden. 1. On history. 2. On modernity. 3. On disenchantment. 4. On division. 5. On opera. 6. On machines. 7. On space. 8. On style -- pt. 2. The Fruit of Knowledge. 9. On being. 10. On the mind. 11. On biology. 12. On the body. 13. On the soul. 14. On morality. 15. On women. 16. On masculinity. 17. On independence. 18. On heroes. 19. On politics. 20. On nothing. 21. On God. 22. On infinity. 23. On self-deification. 24. On invisibility. 25. On conscious life-forms. 26. On artificiality -- pt. 3. The Tower of Babel. 27. On death. 28. On absolute music. 29. On the beautiful and the sublime. 30. On monuments. 31. On the apocalypse. 32. On the end. 33. On suicide. 34. On absolute drivel. 35. On Babel
Summary
This book examines the intellectual history of instrumental music, particularly the idea of absolute music. It shows how certain ideas in philosophy, theology and the sciences affect the meaning of instrumental music, and how instrumental music in turn permeates human discourse and helps construct meaning
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-306) and index
