After Christianity

Gianni Vattimo

Published by Columbia University Press 2002

After Christianity

Gianni Vattimo
Translated by: Luca D'Isanto

In the series Italian Academy Lectures

https://doi.org/10.7312/vatt10628

Overview
Contents

About this book

What has been the fate of Christianity since Nietzsche's famous announcement of the "death of God"? What is the possibility of religion, specifically Christianity, thriving in our postmodern era? In this provocative new book, Gianni Vattimo, leading Italian philosopher, politician, and framer of the European constitution, addresses these critical questions. His compelling arguments about secularization as the fulfillment of the Christian message, Nietzsche's thesis as concerning only the "moral god", the postmodern condition in light of Joachim of Fiore's thesis concerning the "Spiritual Age" of history, and the relativity of the "real", pave the way for religion and God to become a serious topic for philosophy again.

What has been the fate of Christianity since Nietzsche's famous announcement of the "death of God"? What is the possibility of religion, specifically Christianity, thriving in our postmodern era? In this provocative new book, Gianni Vattimo, leading Italian philosopher, politician, and framer of the European constitution, addresses these critical questions.

When Vattimo was asked by a former teacher if he still believed in God, his reply was, "Well, I believe that I believe." This paradoxical declaration of faith serves as the foundation for a brilliant exposition on Christianity in the new millennium—an age characterized by a deep uncertainty of opinion—and a personal account of how Vattimo himself recovered his faith through Nietzsche and Heidegger. He first argues that secularization is in fact the fulfillment of the central Christian message, and prepares us for a new mode of Christianity. He then explains that Nietzsche's thesis concerns only the "moral god" and leaves room for the emergence of "new gods." Third, Vattimo claims that the postmodern condition of fragmentation, anti-Eurocentrism, and postcolonialism can be usefully understood in light of Joachim of Fiore's thesis concerning the "Spiritual Age" of history. Finally, Vattimo argues for the idea of "weak thought." Because philosophy in the postmetaphysical age can only acknowledge that "all is interpretation," that the "real" is always relative and not the hard and fast "truth" we once thought it to be, contemporary thought must recognize itself and its claims as "weak" as opposed to "strong" foundationalist claims of the metaphysical past. Vattimo concludes that these factors make it possible for religion and God to become a serious topic for philosophy again, and that philosophy should now formally engage religion.

Author / Editor information

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.

Reviews

W. David Hall:
In this remarkable book, Gianni Vattimo engages in an unyielding analysis of the state of life in the West after Christianity.

Vattimo can certainly sling it with the best of his fellow European philosophes.

This volume presents a philosophical inquiry as well as a personal account of the way in whcih the author recovered his faith through the works of Nietzsche and Heidegger.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction. Believing That One Believes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The God Who Is Dead Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2. The Teachings of Joachim of Fiore Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. God the Ornament Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
4. History of Salvation, History of Interpretation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
5. The West or Christianity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
6. The Death or Transfiguration of Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
7. Christianity and Cultural Conflicts in Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
8. The Christian Message and the Dissolution of Metaphysics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
9. Violence, Metaphysics, and Christianity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
10. Heidegger and Christian Existence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 128

eBook

Published: June 12, 2002
ISBN: 9780231506502