My name is Jenny Judge. I’m a philosopher, writer and musician.
I’m a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
My philosophy PhD is from NYU. I also have a PhD in music from the University of Cambridge.
I write about music, what it means, and why we need it.
My doctoral thesis in philosophy, ‘Pictures of Feeling: Music, Meaning and Social Life’, argues that a piece of music is a moving picture of feeling. Music represents feeling, in other words. And so, music has ‘meaning’ in the strict sense of ‘representational content’. (Most philosophers deny this.) Music therefore belongs alongside language and pictures in the human communicative toolkit. Just as pictures allow us to make sense of and communicate with each other about how things look, music allows us to make sense of how our lives feel from the inside.
I also write about the philosophy and ethics of digital technology.
I write about the impact that the algorithms powering the online ‘attention economy’ are having on the felt character of our daily lives. I’m also increasingly interested in what generative AI might mean for artists, for better and for worse.
I make music, too.
I’m half of the electro-acoustic duo, Pet Beast. (Guitarist Ted Morcaldi is the other half). We make atmospheric analogue electronic music with splashes of acoustic sound.
I write original music, sing, play various instruments, produce, arrange, and improvise layered electronic vocal textures.
Our first record, ‘Portal’, is streaming on all major platforms, and is also available on vinyl (email me if you want to buy a copy).
I write philosophical essays for a general audience.
My writing in the ethics of technology has appeared in The Guardian, Aeon, The Philosopher’s Magazine and Medium’s OneZero. I’m especially interested in the pressure that the attention economy — and, in particular, the ubiquity of smartphones — places on experiences of value, both moral and aesthetic.
See the ‘Essays’ page for a selection.
Philosophy for artists
I collaborate with composers, performers and concert promoters as a music writer. See the ‘Music writing’ page for some of my past work.
All photographs by Julia Drummond
www.juliadrummondphotography.com