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We tell one another to accept reality, not to fight for something that doesn't exist or might never be. Gianni Vattimo pushes back against this false wisdom, which lends tacit support to the status quo. Instead, Vattimo urges us to never stop questioning, contrasting, or overcoming reality, which is not natural, inevitable, or objective. Reality is a construct, reflecting, among other things, our greed, biases, and tendencies toward violence. Drawing on Nietzsche and Heidegger, Vattimo develops in this volume a philosophy to combat the newest enemy of freedom and democracy: complacency toward reality. It is no accident, Vattimo argues, that the call to embrace reality has emerged at a time when the inequalities of liberal capitalism are at their most extreme.
About the author
Gianni Vattimo, geboren 1936 in Turin, studierte Philosophie in Turin sowie in Heidelberg bei Hans-Georg Gadamer und Karl Löwith. 1964 wurde er Professor für Ästhetik in Turin, 1982 übernahm er dort den Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Philosophie. Von 1999 bis 2004 war Gianni Vattimo linksdemokratischer Abgeordneter im Europäischen Parlament.
Summary
A defense of the critical faculties that keep us from settling for the status quo. Drawing on Nietzsche and Heidegger, Vattimo develops a philosophy to combat the newest enemy of freedom and democracy: complacency toward reality. Resistance to reality becomes our best hope for countering the ongoing indifference to our fate.
Report
"Of Reality represents the fullness of Professor Vattimo's philosophical journey, which places him at the heart of contemporary European thought. Realistic in the face of our post-metaphysical age, Vattimo's philosophy is rooted in a theological and political vision that needs to be taken with the utmost seriousness." - David Jasper, Distinguished Overseas Professor, Renmin University of China
