The indisputability of the fact of the effect of music on human perception and consciousness, on his psychological state and, in connection with this, the regulatory function of music, was marked in antiquity. The article focuses on the cultural-historical and historical-philosophical aspects of the formation of attitudes towards music. Some of the most obvious ways of mutual influence of music and the human being are also traced, in particular in connection with the search for the answer to the question: how the affective nature of music is connected with human cognitive abilities? The results of contemporary interdisciplinary research on the problem of music cognition are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the practice of using music for therapeutic purposes. This function of music, as shown in the article, has never been understood unambiguously. The very fact of awareness and prescription to music certain therapeutic properties indicates that music as a phenomenon has its own universal primordial principles, which adaptively evolved in accordance with the evolutionary development of human auditory system. The conclusion is reached about the specifics of auditory perception associated with the processing of non-verbal sound information by special brain structures. Attention is drawn to how attitudes toward music have changed in different historical periods. Thus, music was considered both as an element of people's communicative practices and as an expression of the sacred meaning of the religious content actions that accompanied these practices. Currently, music is characterized in terms of its cultural and historical significance and philosophical meaning, forming a whole direction in the development of philosophical knowledge — philosophy of music. At this level of analysis the transition is made from an aesthetic to an epistemological understanding of the cognitive meaning and significance of music, to a consideration of the role of music in the formation of a holistic picture of the world.
For citation:
Kovel A.N. Musical images and their effects on human consciousness, understanding and psychocognitive state, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2023, iss. 3, pp. 177—185.