Darwin, Spencer and Mick.

This blog is a side step away from the recent philosophical stuff and will be exploring some ideas about why we make music, starting with the theories of Darwin.

If you’ve ever felt like music touches something deep within you that no words can reach, something wild, raw, and dangerous perhaps... then Friedrich Nietzsche is right up your street. Out of all the major philosophers, Nietzsche didn’t just appreciate music he lived it. He saw it as essential to life, to meaning, to truth. He musicked himself and composed his own works, although I’m sure how successful this was for him.

Darwin’s vibe was all about evolution and within this field he recognised music's profound psychological and evolutionary significance, framing it as both a biological adaptation and a key part of human nature. He conceptualised music as an evolutionary development closely tied to human emotion, social bonding, and sexual selection (like most of his theories).

In The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin speculated that music likely originated before language and played a key role in attracting mates. He suggested that early humans used musical sounds, such as rhythm and melody to express emotions and attract potential partners, much like birdsong functions in the animal kingdom. I’m not sure why but Mick Jagger comes to mind as I write this... perhaps it’s the way he prances around like a peacock. Anyway, this view aligned with his (Darwin’s not Mick’s) broader theory of sexual selection, where traits not directly tied to survival like musical ability could evolve if they enhanced reproductive success. He did also acknowledge the deep emotional impact of music and its universality across different cultures. He saw this as evidence of its biological roots, noting that music could evoke feelings such as joy, sadness, and longing, often without words. However, he also admitted that the precise origin of musical ability remained mysterious. 

Developing this further, and in a different direction, Herbert Spencer was another prominent English philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist, best known for applying evolutionary theory to a wide range of human disciplines including ethics, psychology, education, and social theory. He was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and, although they developed their ideas independently, Spencer is often associated with coining the phrase "survival of the fittest" after reading Darwin's work.

Spencer viewed music as an emotional expression that evolved from the natural vocal expressions of human feelings, such as cries, laughter, or speech intonations. He believed music emerged as an extension of emotional speech and reflected internal states. A way to express what we feel. This was in contrast to Darwin’s view that music originated as part of sexual selection, functioning like a mating call to attract partners. While Spencer emphasised the communicative and expressive functions of music tied to individual emotions, Darwin saw it as biologically adaptive and rooted in reproductive advantage. Their views reflect broader differences: Spencer focused on psychology and emotion, Darwin on evolution and biology.

In one sense both of these viewpoints could hypothetically be layered over the pure musicking and expression of emotion vs the commoditised sale of music to the masses. One is a natural human expression, and one is a marketable commodity to gain something. In the music industry this would be a financial incentive, perhaps from a Darwinian perspective this could mean we are more attractive to potential mates... something to think about alongside where Mick Jagger could be placed on this continuum.

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Adam Ficek hosts a monthly show 'Tonic Music' on Totally Wired Radio, where he talks to various guests about music and mental health. You can listen again to any of the previous show on the Tonic Music Mixcloud page.