Music and Joy: Lessons on the Good Life (Daniel Chua)

This proposal suggests offering a panel to assess the religious and ethical significance of the book, Music and Joy: Lessons on the Good Life (Yale University Press) by Daniel K.L. Chua, a musicologist. The book offers an interdisciplinary approach to an age-old question: What makes for a good life? The answer Chua offers is that the good life depends upon experiencing the spiritual significance of music, which is best conceived as joy. The panel contends that the book presents a compelling argument: that music/joy provides not only invaluable lessons on the good life but also the possibility of a healthier—and perhaps more spiritual—ethos. What is intriguing about the work is the way Chua weaves ancient and modern philosophical and religious traditions, both Eastern and Western, to argue that music itself is a wordless player in developing ethical awareness.