Introduction

This paper introduces the conference subject from an
interdisciplinary perspective. Manuel Mühlbacher gives an overview
of the question ranging from Aristoteles’ thesis that human mimesis
involves understanding to echoes of the same line of argument in
eighteenth-century philosophy. Katerina Krčal traces the shift of
the perspective in the human-animal divide since Darwin’s theory of
evolution. Antonio Chemotti shifts the focus to the question of
animal mimesis in music from the Middle Ages and discusses the role
animals play in origin myths of music.