Gay Watson

Philosophy of Emptiness

Listening to a performance of John Cage's 4'33", you hear, at first, nothing. Yet on listening more closely, something is heard: the coughs of the audience, the shuffling of paper, gentle muttering. What had seemed to be emptiness is instead something more significant, a meditation on the sounds present even within silence. In A Philosophy of Emptiness, Gay Watson reclaims emptiness as a positive, empowering state, an antidote to the obsession with substance and foundation. Watson offers an alternative view of emptiness. Via a tour of early and non-Western philosophy, she uncovers its rich history, taking us from Buddhism, Taoism and religious mysticism to the contemporary world of philosophy, science and art practice. As Watson argues, the twentieth century has seen the resurgence of emptiness and offers reasons why such an unappealing concept has attracted modern musicians, artists and scientists, as well as pre-eminent thinkers throughout the ages. A Philosophy of Emptiness probes the idea of how a life without transcendence might be lived, and why one might choose it. It links these concepts to current ideas of meditation and the mind, and offers a rich and intriguing take on the idea of emptiness that will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of thought.