John Cage and Catharsis in the Light of an Artistic Experience

Catharsis is construed as the moral affair in Aristotle’s thought, the emotionalsomatic discharge and cognitive awareness in Brecht’s theater and the informative conflict around the life experience in Vygotsky’s writing. John Cage, a prominent musician in the 20th century, also considers the core of his artistic thought to be the creation of a challenge for the audience’s perception in terms of the identification of musical experiences and performances. This paper aims to investigate the existence and concept of the cathartic experience in Cage’s works, and concerning this, employs a chronological and descriptive-analytical method and relies on library resources. The findings indicate three stages of changes in his thought, from distancing to motivating audience for intervention and finally, influenced by Zen, promoting the audience to the artist’s position as his own special method. In this way, Cage makes Catharsis as audience’s permanent experience in life.