Of Reality

The Purposes of Philosophy

Gianni Vattimo, Robert T. Valgenti

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9780231536578
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Deconstruction in Philosophy

We think it is wise to accept reality, rather than fight for something that does not exist or might never be. But in Of Reality, Gianni Vattimo condemns this complacency, with its implicit support of the status quo. Instead he 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.

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. Developed from his popular Gifford Lectures, this book advances a critical approach that recovers our interpretive powers and native skepticism toward normative claims. Though he recognizes his ideas invite charges of relativism, the philosopher counters with a discussion of truth, highlighting its longstanding ties to history and social circumstance. Truth is always contingent and provisional, and reason and reasonableness are bound to historical context. Truth is therefore never objective, and resistance to reality is our best hope to defeat the indifference that threatens the scope of freedom and democracy.

INDEX

Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.

Abel (biblical), 176

absolutism, 166, 167, 171

Academy of Sciences (Heidelberg), 37

actuality: anthropology of, 183; ontology of, 159, 183, 185

ad hominem arguments, 20, 21, 32, 93

Adorno, Theodor W., 5, 14, 38, 131–37, 140, 141, 142, 144, 145

aesthetic consciousness, 35

Aesthetic Theory (Adorno), 132–33

“Affectation in Departing, An” (Nietzsche), 162

“Age of the World Picture, The” (Heidegger), 63, 188

alétheia, 106, 158, 187, 190, 191. See also truth

Alighieri, Dante, 106, 202

analytic philosophy, 127, 129, 155

anarchy, 8, 9, 116; epistemological, 129

Anaximander, 107, 159, 203

An-denken, 117, 150, 152, 192, 210n23

anthropology: of actuality, 183; cultural, 18, 54; existentialistic, 46

anti-Americanism, 5

anticipatory decision for death, 43, 44, 49, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 183, 189

antifoundationalism, 115

antihumanism, 140

antimodernism, 199

antirealism, 4, 33, 82, 91, 94, 95

antiskeptical argument, 52, 74, 94, 162

antisubjectivism, 141

Apel, Karl-Otto, 14, 144, 162

a priori, 17, 23–24, 41, 45, 54, 70, 84, 106, 107, 123

Aristotle, 3, 23, 26, 86, 93, 148, 196

atheism, 180

Aufhebung, 94

ausgeträumt dream, 3

authentic existence, 55, 61

authentic glance, 41, 42

authenticity, 49, 56, 57, 59, 99, 213n12; existential, 99, 109; Heideggerian notion of, 56. See also Eigentlichkeit (authenticity)

authentic project, 40, 43, 45, 50, 55, 64

authoritarianism, 25, 115, 150, 154, 159

authority: connection of with truth, 167; political, 166, 168; truth-authority-power connection, 169

avant-garde inspiration/spirit, 5, 8, 37, 38, 40, 52, 63, 99, 100, 105, 128, 129, 13...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents 
• Introduction
• I The Leuven Lectures
• II Intermission
• III The Gifford Lectures
• IV Appendix
• Notes
• Index