Nihilism & Emancipation - (European Perspectives: A Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) by Gianni Vattimo (Paperback)

About the Book

A daring marriage of philosophy and practical politics, Gianni Vattimo takes on some of the most pressing questions of our time: Is it still possible to talk of moral imperatives, individual rights, or political freedom? Are these values still relevant in today's world? Vattimo argues that nihilism is not the absence of meaning but the recognition of a plurality of meanings; it is not the end of civilization but the beginning of new social paradigms. Nihilism is an ethical doctrine in which there are no moral absolutes or infallible natural laws. "Truth" is inescapably subjective, and, because the conditions for equality and liberty are not "naturally" given, society must create these ideals or it will inevitably fall prey to irrationality, prejudice, and oppression. Featuring fourteen of Vattimo's most influential essays on ethics, politics, and law, this collection is a provocative reevaluation of meaning, values, and the idea of freedom in Western culture.

Book Synopsis

A daring marriage of philosophical theory and practical politics, this collection is the first of Gianni Vattimo's many books to combine his intellectual pursuits with his public and political life. Vattimo is a paradoxical figure, at once a believing Christian and a vociferous critic of the Catholic Church, an outspoken liberal but not a former communist, and a recognized authority on Nietzsche and Heidegger as well as a prominent public intellectual and member of the European parliament. Building on his unique position as a philosopher and politician, Vattimo takes on some of the most pressing questions of our time: Is it still possible, long after Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God, to talk of moral imperatives, individual rights, or political freedom? Are these values still relevant in today's world?

Review Quotes

The fluid writing and the translator's "invisible" inclusion of explanatory phrases...makes this accessible to undergraduate and lay readers, as well as of interest to scholars...Highly recommended.-- "Library Journal"

About the Author

Gianni Vattimo is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Turin and a member of the European Parliament. His books with Columbia University Press are Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith: A Dialogue (with René Girard), Not Being God: A Collaborative Autobiography, Art's Claim to Truth, After the Death of God, Dialogue with Nietzsche, The Future of Religion (with Richard Rorty), Nihilism and Emancipation: Ethics, Politics, and the Law, and After Christianity.

Richard Rorty has taught at Wellesley, Princeton, the University of Virginia, and Stanford. With Gianni Vattimo, he is the author of The Future of Religion.Santiago Zabala is ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona. He is the author of The Remains of Being: Hermeneutic Ontology After Metaphysics and The Hermeneutic Nature of Analytic Philosophy: A Study of Ernst Tugendhat; editor of Art's Claim to Truth, Weakening Philosophy, and The Future of Religion; and coeditor (with Jeff Malpas) of Consequences of Hermeneutics. William McCuaig is a translator living in Toronto.