![]() ![]() In this paper, I examine how Gianni Vattimo, in using the terms "weak thought" aims to promote caritas in intellectual life by converging, however paradoxically, Heideggerian Verwindung and Nietzschean nihilism with Pauline kenosis. Moreover, Vattimo’s hermeneutical nihilistic approach prevents him not only considering approaches to the origin of physical violence such as seeing it as a result of evolution, but also rules out a number of ways to cope with this violence such as institutions that are founded upon metaphysical principles. Nevertheless, by bringing the violence of metaphysics too close to the physical violence of the natural sacred, Vattimo runs the risk of trivialising the latter. Not much evidence is provided by Vattimo for this identification, but it is possible to go back through the history of Christianity and find examples which back up his claims, such as how Aquinas’ theology in the thirteenth century could be interpreted as a ‘twisting’ of Aristotle which weakened his philosophy. ![]() Vattimo sees Christianity as inaugurating a principle of ‘weakening’ which moves through history as secularising message. The incarnation in Vattimo’s utilisation of Girard’s ideas is connected with a broader understanding of the incarnation as kenosis. At the heart of this identification is the parallel Vattimo sees between the ‘natural sacred’ in Girard’s thought and the violence of metaphysics. Heidegger’s ontology of decline is, for Vattimo, a ‘transcription’ of Girard’s understanding of Christianity. Gianni Vattimo makes a deep connection between the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and the anthropology of René Girard. By introducing this condition implicitly, Vattimo weakens the categorical imperative by revealing it in weakened form to be a hypothetical imperative at the cost not only of excluding ‘strong’ thinkers, but also revealing a stronger conception of the subject in his philosophy that borders on the metaphysical. ![]() For Vattimo, if one turns inwards then one should listen to others like you, i.e., those who are fellow weak thinkers who want to engage in dialogue. In turn, Kant’s emphasis on reason built on the key Christian insight of binding people together by turning inwards through faith. Kant’s Categorical Imperative is a secularised form of Christian caritas mixed with its evangelical universalising mission. Kantian ethics is a case in point, situated in the midst of what Vattimo, following Heidegger’s interpretation of Nietzsche, regards as the history of Being as a weakening without a termination point. However, we still cannot shake off the traces of the past that have been passed down through linguistic traditions. After the death of God, the hermeneutical nihilist Gianni Vattimo thinks we are living in an age where it is no longer possible to believe in ‘violent’ metaphysical notions such as ‘objectivity’ and ‘universality’. ![]()
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