aurisime

Aurisime is a term used in sound studies and philosophy to denote a stance that foregrounds listening as a primary epistemic and aesthetic modality. Derived from Latin auris (ear) with the suffix -isme, the term has been used by a range of scholars to describe attention to sound as a central means of knowing and experiencing the world.

Core concepts include attentive listening, sensitivity to ambient sound, the social life of sound, and the phenomenology of listening, examining how factors such as context, culture, and technology shape auditory perception. Practically, aurisime informs approaches to music, architecture, urban design, media analysis, and art practice by emphasizing how sounds structure memory, identity, and social interaction.

History and usage are varied; there is no single canonical definition, and the term is applied differently across disciplines, from philosophy to sound studies and design. Critiques focus on potential essentialism or overemphasis on listening at the expense of other senses, while supporters argue that it provides a useful framework for examining power, space, and ethics in sonic environments.

Related fields include sound studies, auditory culture, phenomenology, and acoustic ecology, all of which engage with how listening shapes experience and social life. Today aurisime remains a developing framework for exploring ethical and cultural dimensions of listening in both theory and practice.