Gianni Vattimo was born in
Turin in 1936. He studied under
Luigi Pareyson, and graduated from
Turin University.
From l964 he was
assistant professor and from 1969 full professor of
Aesthetics at Turin. He has been Professor of
Theoretical Philosophy at the same University since l982. Nowadays Vattimo is a member of
European Parliament and the
Party of European Socialists.
In his works, Vattimo has proposed an interpretation of contemporary hermeneutic ontology, emphasising its positive link with nihilism, understood as a weakening of ontological categories arising from the metaphysics and criticism of Nietzsche and Heidegger. This weakening of being is the central concept for understanding the characteristics of man's existence in the late-modern world. Therefore the myth the western world is becoming more and more rational, nearing the utmost rationality is yet another narrative among others.
Some writings: