[Negatité](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_and_Nothingness#Part_1,_Chapter_1:_The_origin_of_negation) is the experience of non-being, or negation, outlined by Jean-Paul Sartre in his book *Being and Nothingness*. It is primarily the experience of *absence* framed by expectation. This is different from the idea of abstract non-existence outlined by [[Philosophy MOC#Parmenides|Parmenides]]. It is a *felt* reality, as a blind person might understand the existence of sight without ever experiencing it directly. This is is basis of Platonism. We perceive the idea of a perfect circle by virtue of only ever encountering imperfect ones. The absence of perfection implies that it exists *elsewhere*, never *here*. This is the *eidos* ideal, a nothingness. Sartre developed this experience in the social sense, in the experience of *waiting*. The experience of nothingness has implications for the idea of an [[Umwelt]] as it relates to discussions of [[Consciousness]]. It refutes the notion that "what you see is all there is," since it largely depends on the notion of the Other to prompt the experience of non-being. The experience of *negatité* might be considered a doorway into states of being described by contemplative practices, such as [[Emptiness]]. The experience of unrealized expectation precedes a realization of how expectations are framed by inherited concepts. The philosophical discipline of [hauntology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauntology?wprov=sfti1) examines the way in which ideas which are absent maintain their influence over the present. In the [words](https://books.google.com/books?id=x7t4h5_VCaYC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=%22not+only+made+out+of+things+but+also+out+of+reflections,+shadows,+levels,+horizons,+which+are+not+nothing%22&source=bl&ots=w595jrFOtv&sig=ACfU3U1LOK-8yezn61Wzpl3dgPzgZ-V8og&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSkMTk_r-HAxW9MtAFHZRICoUQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%22not%20only%20made%20out%20of%20things%20but%20also%20out%20of%20reflections%2C%20shadows%2C%20levels%2C%20horizons%2C%20which%20are%20not%20nothing%22&f=false) of Merleau-Ponty, the "reflections, shadows, levels, horizons," of which the universe is composed, "are not nothing." #### Examples - Money, esp. finance: the ebb and flow of expense and income is experienced but not real. - *Eidos*, Platonic Form, the ideal formed by the negative space of imperfection. >[!quote] Miyamoto Musashi >When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally. All this is the **Way of the Void**.[^1] [^1]: Musashi, M. (1644). [_The book of five rings_](https://archive.org/details/the-book-of-five-rings_202504/mode/2up). p. 8