"Merging recent evolutionary thought, theories of information and signs, and new findings in animal studies, Gary Tomlinson's The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning offers a groundbreaking account of meaning in our world"--
An argument for the role of culture in human evolution, arguing that the leaps we made can only really be understood if we explore the role of culture in their development.
A new narrative for the emergence of human music, drawing from archaeology, cognitive science, linguistics, and evolutionary theory.
In The Singing of the New World Gary Tomlinson offers histories of ancient music long since silent: the songs of the Indians that Europeans met in the sixteenth century. Merging recent cultural history with early European accounts and modern archaeological findings, Tomlinson explores the place of singing in these societies.
Exploring the intersection of opera and philosophy, the book examines how the operatic voice reveals invisible realms and reflects evolving concepts of selfhood and metaphysics over four centuries. Gary Tomlinson analyzes the ideas of influential philosophers such as Ficino, Descartes, Kant, and Nietzsche, highlighting their contributions to understanding the subject's role in material and metaphysical contexts. He illustrates how opera has uniquely represented these shifting relationships on stage, offering a cultural perspective distinct from philosophical discourse.