This chapter outlines the philosophical and scientific foundations of cognitive science as the study of thought, cognition, and intelligent action. It asks whether universal cognitive structures can be identified in ways that illuminate the relation between individual experience, culture, and education without dissolving historical and social difference. The chapter reconstructs several key concepts and tensions within the cognitive approach in order to show how they can be brought to bear on musical development. In this way, it establishes the conceptual framework of the book and prepares the later analyses of musical perception, musical thought, and pedagogical practice. It thereby translates the problem of universality into terms that are usable for music psychology and education.