On silence, discourse, and understanding

Our understanding of the world is deeply rooted in language. Though silence may appear to obstruct understanding—since it lacks the expressiveness of language and speech— I argue that silence, despite being the absence of sound, does not preclude the generation of meaning through language. Far from negating understanding, silence functions as an integral dimension of language, potentiating understanding. This thesis explores silence in three forms: (1) as a capacity, (2) as an action, and (3) as discourse. In speech, silence manifests as pauses while we think about what to say next, punctuating thought. In music, it exists between notes and movements, essential for musicality, phrasing, and expression. Without silence in music, we would only hear a continuous sound devoid of the spirit of music. Silence understood in this way—as a pause-- is an element of the way sound is articulated. This sense of silence is distinguished from what I will refer to as philosophical silence, which arises not merely from the absence of sound but when language reaches its limits. I will discuss philosophical silence, which becomes most apparent to us when language has been pushed to its limits. It is when words fail to express what we want to say that philosophical silence becomes resounding. In examining silence, I investigate its nature, its capacity, its various forms, and how genuine silence is evoked. By investigating silence in this way, I hope to show how meaning is generated in silence. Philosophical silence goes beyond the mere absence of sound; it is a form of silence that we must question: how does one understand something silent? In order to address this question, I will explore how it is that we understand things, namely how we understand silence within the framework of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutic theory. Drawing on Gadamerian hermeneutics, I demonstrate that our understanding of silence is deeply rooted in the fluid interplay of understanding—a melding of two horizons. Against this background, silence plays a considerable role in the fusions as it allows the interpreter to be attuned and receptive to the other perspective. Silence allows us to become more thoughtful and open to the alterity of the text, enabling a deeper and more genuine understanding by creating the space for reflection that emerges when language reaches its most radical limits.