Stephen Fry - Classical Music Is NOT Irrelevant to Youth

Apparently there was some sort of debate in Cambridge recently in which the motion was that "classical music is irrelevant to today's youth." The first question a philosopher might ask at the outset is to explain what we mean by the word "irrelevant." Are we saying that young people don't care about classical music? That it's irrelevant to their aesthetic preferences? Are we saying that, whether young people enjoy classical music or not, it has no direct influence or benefit on their lives?

Well, primarily taking the last definition above, one of the people who opposed the motion, and fabulously at that, was Stephen Fry. As you may or may not know, the man is a great rhetorician, and he's got a fascinating, ironic and irreverent way of looking down at people who look down on others (like that time he delivered this fascinating essay on the importance, use and abuse, and beauty of language). I won't get started on whether his argument constitutes a paradox like that of the barber of Seville, so just enjoy this rhetorical tour-de-force:

And apropos of this topic, the New York Times Philosophy Column just posted this interesting article on the intersection between philosophy, science, art and language.