The role of extra-musical references in the understanding of music raises the issue of whether Wittgenstein should be considered a formalist (see Ahonen 2005, and Szabados 2006; 2014). A decidedly formalist element in Wittgenstein’s aesthetics is his separation of the understanding and appreciation of music from the effect it has on us—the move is similar to Hanslick’s (see §1.6; on Wittgenstein and Hanslick, see Szabados 2014, 39–57; 94–97). Aesthetic value in general, and music’s value more