Jenny Judge

I’m a Lecturer (i.e. assistant professor) in philosophy.

I hold a PhD in philosophy from New York University and a PhD in music from the University of Cambridge.

My research explores the place of music, and musical experience, in human mentality at large. I'm currently developing a novel theory of musical meaning, according to which a piece of expressive music is a moving picture of feeling. On this view, a piece of expressive music is as good a candidate as a picture for having representational content -- and the widespread assumption that music lacks representational content is therefore misplaced. I'm working on a series of papers wherein I defend this 'representational' view of musical expression against objections, and explore its potential for explaining the communicative and social significance of music.

In addition to my work on music, I also write about the impact of digital technology on our encounters with value: in particular, the moral value of others and the aesthetic value of artworks. I'm particularly interested in mapping the different kinds of attention involved in moral and aesthetic experiences, and how these forms of attention are being directed and shaped by today's Internet.

I am an active musician, and I contribute essays to the program books at both Carnegie Hall and the San Francisco Symphony.