Exploring the Nothing in Relation to Meister Eckhart’s God and Martin Heidegger’s Being

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper aims to establish a parallel between Meister Eckhart’s statement that ‘God is Nothing’ and Martin Heidegger’s claim that ‘Being is Nothing.’ By observing a pattern of negation in the thought of both thinkers I will ultimately suggest that in these statements, they have reached the same conclusion. To observe negation in Eckhart I will examine his principle of indistinct distinction, which ultimately negates negation itself; for Heidegger I will consider the ontological difference between Being and beings, which too must necessarily be negated to disclose the Nothing. One key distinction that I aim to demonstrate between the two thinkers is how each considers the pertinence of the Nothing in human experience. For Eckhart, our experience of the Nothing has a unifying role, whereas for Heidegger it remains wholly repellent, in the literal sense of ‘driving back.’ Moreover, beyond the particulars of Eckhart and Heidegger, I will aim to defend the legitimacy of the Nothing as a philosophical concept.