Music and Cats / Book of Abstracts - Catalog - Page 14
Abstracts
Panel 2: Ethics and Spectacle
La Nature, 1883
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12:10 – 12:25
The Paradox of the
Cat Organ
Music, Madness, and Nonhuman Ethics in
Early Psychiatry
Shang Gao / Communication University of China
This paper explores the historical idea of the “cat
organ,” a fictional musical instrument made from
live cats whose cries were triggered to produce
different pitches. While often treated as a bizarre
curiosity, the cat organ was taken seriously by
German physician Johann Christian Reil in 1803,
who suggested using it as a medical tool to treat
mentally ill patients. Reil believed that the sound
of cats meowing in a structured way could shock
patients out of their daydreams or emotional
numbness. This case offers a striking example of
how music, medicine, and animal suffering were
linked in early psychiatric thought.
Using theories from Michel Foucault and critical
animal studies, this paper argues that the cat
organ reflects a deeper pattern: how music has
sometimes been used as a method of control.
In Reil’s vision, animal pain was not seen as a
problem, but rather as a useful tool to trigger
human reaction. The cats’ voices were taken
out of their natural context and turned into
parts of a musical system designed for human
goals. This raises important ethical questions
about who gets to speak, who gets heard, and
who gets used.
Finally, the paper connects this history to
today’s sound practices—animal voices are
still
being
shaped,
repurposed,
and
commodified. By revisiting the story of the cat
organ, we are reminded that music is not
always innocent—and that listening itself is
an ethical act.
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