甚麼是真相? 亞里士多德説“指鹿為馬，便是假，按照事實說話，便是真。”[註1] “太陽從東方升起”是真的因為這是我們每天早上所看見的景象。”吸氣時肚子會脹” 是真，而”吸氣時肚子會縮”是假，因為前者符合我們每天的經歴。概括來說，這就是哲學裏說的”真理符應說” (The Correspondence Theory of Truth): 一個句子是真的如果它對應事實。
但是，我們會否犯錯? “太陽從東面升起”，對我們來説，是真的因為我們眼睛看見和其他人也這樣說。但我們不可能走到地平綫那邊去望望，也不可能用手觸摸一下。那麼，眼睛和道聽塗說是否已經足夠去證明一個真相呢？所以有些哲學家，例如Donald Davidson，覺得”真理符應說”只不過是在比較想法與想法– “太陽從東方升起”只是想法，不是事實。因為真理無法從比較兩個想法中獲得，所以他們提出了”真理融貫說” (The Coherence Theory of Truth)。概括來說，”真理融貫說”是說一組句子是真相若句子間沒有予盾。
在歌唱技巧裏，可能”真理融貫說”會比較適合因為歌唱技巧干涉很多個人的感覺。舉例歌唱技巧”吸氣時應像聞玫瑰一樣”: 究竟這句是指”想像用玫瑰的香氣無聲地注滿肺部” [註2] ，抑或是吸氣時向上提zygomaticus (一組面部皮下肌肉)，像一個人遇見一些令人心擴神怡的玫瑰一樣？這例子說明一些歌唱技巧比較適合用”有否自相矛盾” 來決定是不是真理，因為不容易去說明這技巧是對應身體那部份。
在哲學裏，因為對於”想法”，”知覺”，”現實” 眾說紛云，有些哲學家如C. S. Peirce 和Richard Rorty 對”真理” 提出了新的想法– 實用主義(Pragmatism)。簡單來說，對實用主義來說，”真理”是有用的[註3]，和“真理” 是多人相信的。[註4] 實用主義應用在歌唱技巧上會帶來兩點: 第一，歌唱技巧的真理會令我唱到; 第二，多人用的歌唱技巧是對的。這兩點是不是正確？會不會令你歌唱生命延長？若人人都用同一方法去唱歌，我們會否失去獨特的聲音？
”真理符應說”？”真理融貫說”？實用主義？我現在列出一些歌唱技巧，你又會如何構造你自己的“歌唱技巧”?
- 唱高音時肚子維持膨脹狀態
- 唱高音時縮肚
- 吸氣時像聞玫瑰一樣 (慢)
- 吸氣時像有驚喜一樣 (快)
- 唱歌時感覺聲音從後而出
- 唱歌時聲音永遠在前
[English Version]
What is truth? Aristotle says, “To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true.”[1]“The sun rises from the east” is true because that corresponds to what we see every morning. “The abdomen will expand when one inhales” is true while “the abdomen will pull in when one inhales” is false because the latter does not conform to our daily experience. In a nutshell, this is what the correspondence theory of truth says: something is true if it corresponds to reality.
Yet, have we ever been mistaken? The only ground for saying “the sun rises from the east” is true lies in the visual and the hearsay: we cannot walk towards the sun on the horizon, nor can we touch it. Are these two criteria sufficient to say something is true? In the end, some philosophers, such as Donald Davidson, claim that the adherents of the correspondence theory of truth are just comparing thoughts to thoughts, not thoughts to reality – “the sun rises from the east” is a thought, not reality. Since comparing thoughts to thoughts for these philosophers is an untenable way of judging what is true, they advocate another criterion of truth: coherence. Roughly speaking, a set of sentences is true if there is no contradiction among its constituents.
In the realm of vocal technique, the correspondence theory has more drawback than the coherence one since vocal technique involves substantially more subjective sensations.
Take the vocal tip “inhale as if you are smelling roses” as an example. Does this correspond to a silent inhalation, “as though gradually filling the lungs with the fragrance of a rose”[2]or to the activation of zygomaticus (a subcutaneous facial muscle), which is triggered when we encounter something pleasant, such as roses? Hence, some vocal techniques have to be necessarily judged by coherence since it is hard to pinpoint what do they correspond to.
Back to philosophy, since the connections between thoughts, perception and reality are highly debatable, some philosophers, such as C.S. Peirce and Richard Rorty, opt a way out of this deadlock by proposing pragmatism. Pragmatists basically believe two things: true propositions are useful;[3]and truthfulness of a proposition is proportional to the amount of its believers.[4]Translating these two aspects of pragmatism into singing, it means: whatever works for me at that moment; and I do what the majority of singers do. Are these two advisable attitudes? Do they help vocal longevity? Will we lose some uniquely beautiful voices if everybody adopts the same vocal technique?
Correspondence theory of truth? Coherence theory? Or pragmatism? I list below a sample of ideas about vocal technique, how would you construct your own system?
- Belly remains expanded for high notes
- Belly contracts for high notes
- Smell the roses when you inhale (slow)
- Inhale in the gesture of surprise (fast)
- Feel the sound behind and outside your body when you sing
- Always feel the sound in front of you
[1]Metaphysics 1011b25
[2]Richard Miller, On the Art of Singing(New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 18.
[3]Roger Scruton, Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey(London: Bloomsbury Reader, 2012), 104.
[4]Scruton, 106.