Mo Tzu's Argument Against Music

Response to Mo Tzu’s Against Music
Whether or not music has any real world usefulness is entirely up to opinion. Mo Tzu, one of China’s first real philosophers, believed music’s “ benefits were limited to an extremely small number of people, namely the very wealthy”(Tzu 308). He did not hate music, but rather saw no use for it in society and therefore believed that people’s tax money should not go into artistic programs that do not benefit the country directly. Tzu’s view of music as only a luxury conflicts with modern studies that indicate how a child learns more effectively with the addition of a music curriculum, or how music can fight depression, ect. Tzu’s first argument against music is a moral one, and that is that “benevolent men should

He believed if someone listened to music daily, they would slack in their other duties. One of his examples of this is that “ if women are fond of music and spend their time listening to it, then they will be unable to rise early and go to bed late, spinning, weaving, producing large quantities of hemp, silk, and other fibers, and preparing cloth, and as a result there will not be enough cloth”(Tzu 312). However, again examining this argument in a modern light, studies conducted in this decade show quite the opposite effect. In the year 2012 an article published by the New York Times explains the positive effects music has in a work environment with facts from a study conducted by an assistant professor, by the name Teresa Lesiuk, in the music therapy program at the University of Miami. “Dr. Lesiuk’s research focuses on how music affects workplace performance… she found that those who listened to music completed their tasks more quickly and came up with better ideas than those who didn’t, because the music improved their mood.”(Baker par. 7). As any teenager or student can tell you, music is an important part of keeping the attention of a wandering mind while studying. Music keeps you in the moment and aids development and personality. Music is hardly useless or