Music, Intuition, and Psychiatry

A Tract Book

By

Anthony J. Fejfar

© Copyright 2006 by Anthony J. Fejfar

Psychiatry purport to tell us that which is psychotic or unreal.

Philosophy does the same thing. Philosophy, particularly, metaphysics, has

traditionally been the academic discipline assigned the job of dealing with

“the real.” Let us take as a starting point in our discussion the idea of

persons who are tone deaf, on the one hand, or who have an ear for music,

on the other.

Let us imagine our typical psychiatrist who happens to be tone deaf.

This psychiatrist will undoubtedly conclude that tonal harmonics are an

example of psychosis. The idea that different musical tones can form a

harmony will be seen as a schizophrenic delusion.

Philosophy, on the other hand would probably start with

phenomenology. Phenomenology starts with lived experience. After

talking to a couple of musicians who have an ear for music, a

phenomenologist would conclude that music and tonal harmonics exist. If a

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phenomenologist would then come across a person who cannot hear tonal

harmonics, the phenomenologist would in all likelihood conclude that that

person is tone deaf, not normative.

In addition to music, there is intuition. Intuition is a cognative

faculty which feels relationships in reality. Let us assume that our

psychiatrist does not have intuition. Like the tone deaf musician, the

psychiatrist is intuition deaf. Intuition is what distinguishes mere analysis

from real intellect. Unfortunately the psychiatrist who is intuition deaf, will

consider this state of affairs normative, and thus conclude that intuition is

delusional or a hallucination. No, matter that Tony Bastick, in his book,

“Intuition,” has reported numerous scientific studies confirming the

existence and operation of intuition.

I also argue that intuition is the basis for insight. Insight is a

cognative faculty or operation which produces ideas from out of nowhere.

As Archimedes said, “Eureka,” I have found the answer. Insight is

commonplace among scientists, philosophers, and others, and is typically

how new ideas come into being. As stated previously, insight flows

naturally from intutition.

I would argue that like an ear for music, intuition and insight are

normative and at the very least should not be considered delusional, a

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hallucination, or psychotic by psychiatrists. Just because a psychiatrist

does not have a cognative faculty, does not mean that it does not exist.

THE END