The Story
Western thinking has long been dominated by essence, by a preoccupation with that which dwells in itself and delimits itself from the other. By contrast, Far Eastern thought is centred not on essence but on absence. The fundamental topos of Far Eastern thinking is not being but 'the way' (dao), which lacks the solidity and fixedness of essence. The difference between essence and absence is the difference between being and path, between dwelling and wandering. 'A Zen monk should be without fixed abode, like the clouds, and without fixed support, like water', said the Japanese Zen master Dōgen.
Drawing on this fundamental distinction between essence and absence, Byung-Chul Han explores the differences between Western and Far Eastern philosophy, aesthetics, architecture and art, shedding fresh light on a culture of absence that may at first sight appear strange and unfamiliar to those in the West whose ways of thinking have been shaped for centuries by the preoccupation with essence.
Author: Byung-Chul Han
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 05/22/2023
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781509546206
About the Author
Byung-Chul Han is a full-time writer and the author of more than twenty books including The Scent of Time, Saving Beauty and The Burnout Society.
Description
Western thinking has long been dominated by essence, by a preoccupation with that which dwells in itself and delimits itself from the other. By contrast, Far Eastern thought is centred not on essence but on absence. The fundamental topos of Far Eastern thinking is not being but 'the way' (dao), which lacks the solidity and fixedness of essence. The difference between essence and absence is the difference between being and path, between dwelling and wandering. 'A Zen monk should be without fixed abode, like the clouds, and without fixed support, like water', said the Japanese Zen master Dōgen.
Drawing on this fundamental distinction between essence and absence, Byung-Chul Han explores the differences between Western and Far Eastern philosophy, aesthetics, architecture and art, shedding fresh light on a culture of absence that may at first sight appear strange and unfamiliar to those in the West whose ways of thinking have been shaped for centuries by the preoccupation with essence.
Author: Byung-Chul Han
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 05/22/2023
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781509546206
About the Author
Byung-Chul Han is a full-time writer and the author of more than twenty books including The Scent of Time, Saving Beauty and The Burnout Society.
