The ontological aspect of the phenomenon of silence

The aim of the study is to determine the possibilities of applying the ontological aspect to the study of the phenomenon of silence as an essential characteristic of being. The philosophical-cultural, ontological, abstract-formal approaches to the study of the phenomenon of silence were used in the research. The main approach was the ontological one; its significance (in unity with the phenomenological approach) is to reveal being as a hierarchy of meanings by removing the contradiction between subject and object (form/content, phenomenon/essence, etc.), to typologize the presence of the phenomenon of silence at the level of things, nature, art. The author indicates the main approaches to the study of silence (linguocommunicative, religious-theological art history, philosophical) and defines it as a “supersensual interval”, a “pause” of being, not reducible to binary oppositions. The author highlights aspects of comprehension of the problem of silence: characteristic and condition of existence of being (the world, nature, man, society, art); expression of the sound picture of the world (along with stillness, soundlessness, shouting, etc.). The relevance of studying ontological issues of silence is connected with the processes of transformation of modern culture, language, art, in which there is a tendency to search for the deep foundations of the world and man. Conceptions of Merab Mamardashvili, Vladimir Solovyov, Pavel Florensky, and others allow drawing a conclusion about the metaphysical nature of silence and to identify the levels of manifestation of the phenomenon of silence (thing, nature, art). As a result of the conducted research, the following conclusions were made: (1) silence is a characteristic of being, a “supersensual interval” in the process of which meaning is formed; (2) the levels of expressing silence (the world of things, natural landscape, art) correlate with ontological categories (“the very self”, the sublime as the ideal, expressiveness); (3) the phenomenon of silence contributes to the beginning of the evolving dialog between man and the world by means of withdrawal, silence and rest in the name of finding and returning to oneself, one’s essence. The author believes that expressiveness is the dominant category for explaining silence in art. These conclusions are rooted in the ontological approach and become possible as a result of emphasizing its strengths; they can serve for further elaboration of this issue, for determining other ways of the being of silence.