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The 21st Century Monads
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The 21st Century Monads are an international musical collaboration whose songs address fundamental issues in philosophy, including specialized topics in contemporary analytic philosophy and the history of philosophy. The musical genres range from dance to folk. The songs are unique, original songs, not cheesy parodies.

Three albums have been released — The New Monadology (2009), Total Monadic Domination (2010), and Breaking Windows (2011). A new album, Body Monad World is in production

This site also hosts songs from an earlier band, The Monads, and its album A Sad State of Affairs (1999).

To hear our music as soon as it is released, subscribe to our RSS Podcast Feed / iTunes Podcast [], subscribe to our BlogSpot blog, or “Like” us on Facebook.

Albums

Body Monad World
Body Monad World (2012) 		Body Monad World
Breaking Windows (2011) 		Body Monad World
Total Monadic Domination (2010) 		Body Monad World
The New Monadology (2009) 		Body Monad World
The Monads — A Sad State of Affairs (1999)

New Album — Body Monad World (2012)

We provide our songs to you for free. If you enjoyed them, please consider paying it forward by making an appropriate donation to a charity of your choice. In exchange, we’ll make available to you a higher quality uncompressed 16 bit/44.1khz version of the songs. Details in this blog post.

Album Playlist

[Album art]
All songs copyright 2012 © The 21st Century Monads. All rights reserved.

Individual Songs

[Song art] “Achiever”
M4A / MP3 / OGG


Copyright 2012 © The 21st Century Monads.
“Achiever”

Music by Kris McDaniel, Carrie Jenkins, Ben Bradley and Hille Paakkunainen.
Lyrics by Kris McDaniel.

Ben Bradley — electric bass, electric guitar
Carrie Jenkins — vocals, piano
Hille Paakkunainen — edrums
Kris McDaniel — vocals, electric guitar, edrums

Carrie’s parts were recorded by Carrie in Nottingham.
Kris’, Ben’s and Hille’s parts recorded by Kris, Ben and Hille in Syracuse.
Song mixed by Kris McDaniel.


I’m an achiever
I deserve credit for what I know
No mere true believer
I’m like an archer with her bow
And when I make the shot
It manifests the skills that I got
Bad evidence, I got no truck
You make your own epistemic luck

I’m an achiever
It’s why my knowledge is valuable
Without the virtues
The value problem would be unsolvable
But what about testimony?
Answering this question is a must
But there’s still epistemic agency
You’ve just got to know who to trust

Oh no! I’ve been Gettiered!

But I’ve still got understanding
I’ve still got understanding
[Song art] “Are You A Zombie?”
M4A / MP3 / OGG


Copyright 2012 © The 21st Century Monads.
“Are You A Zombie?”

Music by Kris McDaniel, Carrie Jenkins, Ben Bradley, and Hille Paakkunainen.
Lyrics by Kris McDaniel and Carrie Jenkins

Ben Bradley — electric bass
Carrie Jenkins — vocals, piano
Kris McDaniel — acoustic guitar, electric guitar, organ
Hille Paakkunainen — edrums

Carrie’s parts were recorded by Carrie in Nottingham and by Kris and Carrie in Syracuse.
Kris’, Ben’s and Hille’s parts recorded by Kris, Ben and Hille in Syracuse.
Song mixed by Kris McDaniel.

When I look in your eyes
Is there another mind
Looking back from behind
And these feelings inside
Could you recognize them if you tried
To empathize
Or are you a zombie?
Is your body nothing more than an empty glove?
Are you a zombie?
A mere physical duplicate of someone who I would have loved
Who I could love?

I know it’s not right
Inferring others’ mental states
By induction from a single case
But I keep trying to find
Something that I just cannot read in your face
Or in your embrace.

Oh are you a zombie?
Do you really have the feelings you seem to express?
Or are you a zombie?
Is it conceptually possible that you lack any consciousness?
Even a little consciousness?

Have I fallen in love with a zombie?
[Song art] “Hard Drive ”
M4A / MP3 / OGG


Copyright 2012 © The 21st Century Monads.
“Hard Drive ”

Music by Kris McDaniel, Carrie Jenkins, Ben Bradley, and Hille Paakkunainen.
Lyrics by Kris McDaniel

Ben Bradley — bass guitar
Carrie Jenkins — vocals
Kris McDaniel — vocals, electric 12—string guitar, synthesizers
Hille Paakkunainen — edrums

Recorded by the 21st Century Monads in Syracuse.
Song mixed by Kris McDaniel.

I need to finish two of my papers
A referee report is overdue
I have essays that I need to write comments for
But unfortunately I’m screwed
My dog thought the power cable was his leash
And before I could move or speak
Ranger yanked on the cord
And the laptop bounced all over the room
All over the room

I took it to the computer people
And they assured me that I was OK
Although the hard drive was completely shattered
My work had been automatically saved
But it turned out that they were mistaken
Certainly mistakes were made
Although the data that had been on the server for the last six months
Had been accidentally erased

Yeah my hard drive is dead
But I’m praying for an afterlife
So I’m emailing you in the hope
That you might have an earlier draft
Of one of my papers
And if so please reply
So all my work for the last six months
Isn’t lost

The Band

[Mereological Bastard]
Kris McDaniel
“The Mereological Bastard”
Syracuse University
personal website 		[Lazy Monad]
Ben Bradley
“The Lazy Monad”
Syracuse University
faculty page 		[The Pre-Established Harmony]
Carrie Jenkins
“The Pre-Established Harmony”
University of British Columbia
personal website 		[The Infinite Progression]
Hille Paakkunainen
“The Infinite Progression”
Syracuse University
faculty page
Logo and Album Art by Paul Prescott, Syracuse University. Page maintained by Kevin C. Klement, University of Massachusetts.
All songs copyright 2010–2012 © The 21st Century Monads. All rights reserved. “The 21st Century Monads” and “The Monads” are trademarks of the 21st Century Monads.