Thinking with Our Ears

The sound of thought, from ancient acoustics to modern microphones.

 What if we opened our ears to the sound of ideas? We often forget that thought makes noise, whether a great din or light rustling. We have even tried to silence thought. Still, in philosophers’ writings, we can hear cries and murmurs. Their voices and accents are part of their thoughts. From the acoustic devices of antiquity to the use of the microphone today, François Noudelmann puts his stethoscope to philosophy. He proposes a sound ecology of thought to study the sound environments in which philosophy is created and which philosophy helps create.Former member of the Institut Universitaire de France, François Noudelmann has produced numerous pieces on literature and philosophy that have been translated into a dozen languages, including The Genius of Lies, The Philosopher's Touch: Sartre, Nietzsche, and Barthes at the Piano, and Soundings and Soundscapes, with S. Kay. From 2002 to 2013, he was a producer at France Culture, where he also hosted several weekly and daily shows.