The opening thesis is that we hear silence. Since silence is the absence of sound, we can perceive absences. We also perceive an absence when we see darkness. There is a sensation of darkness – blackness. But there is no sensation of silence. In this respect, hearing silence is a more direct experience of an absence than seeing darkness. Although there is no sensation of silence, we still know what it is like to experience silence. There are introspectible gaps in sensation.
Keywords: silence, hearing, sound, introspectible, sensation