| A Farewell to Truth Contributor(s): Vattimo, Gianni (Author), McCuaig, William (Translator), Valgenti, Robert T. (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 0231153090 ISBN-13: 9780231153096 Publisher: Columbia University Press OUR PRICE: $23.76 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | Movements - Deconstruction - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Modern - Philosophy | Political |
| Dewey: 195 |
| Physical Information: 0.53" H x 5.49" W x 7.09" (0.50 lbs) 192 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: With Western cultures becoming more pluralistic, the question of "truth" in politics has become a game of interpretations. Today, we face the demise of the very idea of truth as an objective description of facts, though many have yet to acknowledge that this is changing. Gianni Vattimo explicitly engages with the important consequences for democracy of our changing conception of politics and truth, such as a growing reluctance to ground politics in science, economics, and technology. Yet in Vattimo's conception, a farewell to truth can benefit democracy, exposing the unspoken issues that underlie all objective claims. The end of absolute truth challenges the legitimacy of policies based on perceived objective necessities--protecting the free market, for example, even if it devastates certain groups or classes. Vattimo calls for a truth that is constructed with consensus and a respect for the liberty of all. By taking into account the cultural paradigms of others, a more "truthful" society--freer and more democratic--becomes possible. In this book, Vattimo continues his reinterpretation of Christianity as a religion of charity and hope, freeing society from authoritarian, metaphysical dogmatism. He also extends Nietzsche's "death of God" to the death of an authoritarian God, ushering in a new, postreligious Christianity. He connects the thought of Martin Heidegger, Karl Marx, and Karl Popper with surprising results and accommodates modern science more than in his previous work, reconciling its validity with an insistence that knowledge is interpretive. Vattimo's philosophy justifies Western nihilism in its capacity to dispense with absolute truths. Ranging over politics, ethics, religion, and the history of philosophy, his reflections contribute deeply to a modern reconception of God, metaphysics, and the purpose of reality. |
Contributor Bio(s): Valgenti, Robert T.: - Robert T. Valgenti (PhD, Philosophy, DePaul) is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Lebanon Valley College. In addition to his translations of Italian philosophical texts such as Gianni Vattimo's Of Reality (Columbia, 2016)and A Farewell to Truth (Columbia, 2011) he has published articles in edited volumes and in academic journals including Philosophy Today, Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, Symposium, and Tropos. His interests focus on hermeneutics, Italian philosophy, biopolitics, and philosophy of food.Vattimo, Gianni: - Gianni Vattimo (PhD, Philosophy, Turin) is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Turin. He is the author of a large number of books, most of which have been translated into English, including Of Reality (Columbia, 2016), A farewell to Truth (Columbia, 2011), and The Responsibility of the Philosopher (Columbia, 2010). He is also known for his political activism in support of gay rights and has served as a member of the European Parliament. As a philosopher he is known for his espousal of nihilism, his rejection of truth in favor of interpretation (hermeneutics), his adoption of weak thought as a withdrawal from metaphysics, and his situational Marxism. |