The essence of nihilism / Emanuele Severino ; translated by Giacomo Donis ; edited by Ines Testoni and Alessandro Carrera.

Author
Severino, Emanuele [Browse]
Uniform title
Format
Book
Language
English
Εdition
English-language edition.
Published/​Created
  • London ; New York : Verso, 2016.
  • ©2016
Description
xxvi, 358 pages ; 25 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks B828.3 .S4813 2016 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Translator
    Writer of introduction
    Summary note
    Between 1961 and 1970, Emanuele Severino was subjected to a thorough investigation by the Vatican Inquisition. The "fundamental incompatibility" identified between his thought and Christian doctrine ejected him from his position as Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University in Milan. The Essence of Nihilism, published in 1972, was the first book to follow his expulsion, and it established Severino's preeminent position within the the constellation of contemporary philosophy. In this groundbreaking and classic book, now for the first time available in English, Severino reinterprets the history of Western philosophy as the unfolding of "the greatest folly," that is, of the belief that "things come out of nothing and fall back into nothing." According to Severino, such a typically Western understanding of reality has resulted in a conviction that there is a radical "nothingness" to existence. In turn, this justifies the treatment of the world as an object of exploitation, degradation and destruction. To move beyond Western nihilism, suggests Severino, we must first of all "return to Parmenides." Joining forces with the most venerable of Greek philosophers, Severino confutes nihilism's "path of night", and develops a new philosophy grounded on the principle of the eternity of reality and of every single existent thing. -- Provided by publisher.
    Notes
    "Originally published in Italian by Paideia as Essenza del nichilismo ... ©1982"--Title page verso.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Language note
    Translated from the Italian.
    Contents
    • Foreword: Severino's magical castle / by Alessandro Carrera
    • Fear of death? What about eternity ... / by Ines Testoni
    • Introduction: The structure of Western history and the supersession of the alienated critique of alienation
    • Part one: Returning to Parmenides
    • Returning to Parmenides (postscript)
    • Part two: The path of day
    • The earth and the essence of man
    • On the meaning of the "death of God"
    • Alienation and the salvation of truth
    • Part three: Aletheia
    • Concluding remark (1982).
    ISBN
    • 9781784786113 ((paperback ; : alk. paper))
    • 178478611X ((paperback ; : alk. paper))
    • 9781784786106 ((hardcover))
    • 1784786101 ((hardcover))
    LCCN
    2016033164
    OCLC
    953918938
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