Abstract
I am neither a professional philosopher nor Italian. Yet, living in Italy, I continually experience both the influence of its culture and the central role that contemporary philosophical debates over such terms as the ‘post-metaphysical’ and ‘weak thought’ occupy. These particular philosophical concepts, the critical traditions from which they have emerged, and the visibility they have in Italian intellectual and civil life are likely to be quite foreign to most Anglo-American readers. By looking at these developments, I hope to draw out the importance of this particular Italian contribution to the wider present-day discussion of postmodernism, as well as to contemporary intellectual discourse and critical thought.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chambers, I. and Curti, L. (1982), ‘Silent Frontiers: An Italian Debate on the “Crisis of Reason”’, Screen Education, XLIII.
Dal Lago, A. (1986), ‘The Demise of the Revolutionary Imaginary?’, Differentia, pp. 49–50.
Derrida, J. (1978), ‘Violence and Metaphysics: An Essay on the Thought of Emmanuel Lévinas’, in Writing and Difference (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul).
Ferraris, M. (1983), Tracce. Nichilismo Moderno Postmodern (Milan: multhipla edizioni).
Gargani, A. (ed.) (1979), Crisi della ragione (Turin: Einaudi).
Grosz, E. (1987), ‘The “People of the Book”: Representation and Alterity in Emmanuel Lévinas’, Art and Text, XXVI.
Habermas, J. (1985), ‘Modernity - An Incomplete Project’, in H. Forster (ed.), Postmodern Culture (London: Pluto).
Lévinas, E. (1969), Totality and Infinity (Pittsburg: Duquesne University Press).
Lyotard, J.-F. (1984), The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Megill, A. (1985), Prophets of Extremity. Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida (Los Angeles and London: University of California Press).
Nietzsche, F. (1977), A Nietzsche Reader (Harmondsworth: Penguin).
Relia, F. (1981a), Il silenzio e le parole (Milan: Feltrinelli).
Relia, F. (1981b), Miti e figure del modern (Parma: Pratiche Editrice).
Relia, F. (1984), ‘La regione e il potere’, in V. Conti (ed.), Sapere e potere, 2 vols (Milan: multhipla edizioni).
Vattimo, G. (1979), Le avventure della differenza (Milan: Garzanti).
Relia, F. (1981), Al di là del soggetto (Milan: Feltrinelli).
Relia, F. (1983), ‘Dialettica, differenza, pensiero debole’, in Vattimo and Rovatti, 1983.
Relia, F. (1985), La fine della modernità (Milan: Garzanti).
Vattimo, G. and Rovatti, P. A. (eds) (1986a), Filosofia ’86 (Bari: Laterza).
Vattimo, G. and Rovatti, P. A. (1986b), ‘Metafisica, violenta, secolarizzazione’, in Vattimo, 1986a.
Vattimo, G. and Rovatti, P. A. (1987), ‘Postmodernità e fine della storia’, in G. Mari (ed), Moderno postmoderno (Milan: Feltrinelli).
Vattimo, G. and Rovatti, P. A. (1983), Il pensiero debole (Milan: Feltrinelli).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1990 Zygmunt G. Barański and Robert Lumley
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chambers, I. (1990). Rolling Away From the Centre Towards X: Some Notes on Italian Philosophy, ‘Weak Thought’ and Postmodernism. In: Barański, Z.G., Lumley, R. (eds) Culture and Conflict in Postwar Italy. University of Reading European and International Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20841-8_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20841-8_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-45805-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-20841-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)