Overview
In this highly engaging book, Costantino Esposito argues that nihilism is not merely the loss of the classic values of the Western tradition—rather, it presents a critical opportunity to ask pertinent, timely questions about the meaning of self and the world. Nihilism is a problem that has troubled the culture, philosophy, and worldview of people and societies for more than a century—a problem that seemed, thanks to the advance of cultural relativism, to have become an obvious and globally shared condition. However, in recent years, the conversation around nihilism has begun to change. The questions that nihilism once declared impossible to answer—questions about the ultimate meaning of self and reality, the truth of the person and history, our desire to understand ourselves in relation to the infinite—are reemerging in today’s culture and proving to be profound, reasonable, and of vital importance. In its classical form, nihilism is the loss of values and ideals, but its modern iteration manifests as an irreducible need: more basic but far more challenging. Esposito suggests that rather than being an obstacle, nihilism can become an opportunity to search for true meaning for our experiences in the world. With philosophical rigor, he intercepts and narrates this new phenomenon, focusing on social trends, poetic voices, philosophical and scientific visions, ethical problems, and aesthetic experiences. The New Nihilism unravels and makes sense of the real stakes of the existential crisis of our time.
Full Product Details
Author: Costantino Esposito
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Imprint: University of Notre Dame Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.30cm
, Length: 22.90cm
ISBN: 9780268207991
ISBN 10: 0268207992
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 01 November 2024
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
"“Esposito’s book is a balanced description of those forms of nihilism that most ail modern society. Inquiring with journalistic incision into deeply philosophical issues, he provides insight, perspective, and vigor in assessing our current situation, and he does so in a way that can only be described, in the best possible sense, as absolutely charming.” —Colby Dickinson, author of Giorgio Agamben’s ""Homo Sacer"" Series"
“Esposito’s book is a balanced description of those forms of nihilism that most ail modern society. Inquiring with journalistic incision into deeply philosophical issues, he provides insight, perspective, and vigor in assessing our current situation, and he does so in a way that can only be described, in the best possible sense, as absolutely charming.” —Colby Dickinson, author of Giorgio Agamben’s ""Homo Sacer"" Series ""Far from nihilism being a worldview that is impossible to endure, as is so often said, Costantino Esposito thinks it is the worldview that we all now live with—it conquered our horizons by shedding its angry and destructive image to become a 'quiet product of consumer society.' Esposito’s original and very readable book is his 'attempt to listen to what the nihilism of our time is telling us.'"" —James Tartaglia, author of Philosophy in a Meaningless Life
Author Information
Costantino Esposito is professor of history of philosophy and history of metaphysics at University of Bari Aldo Moro and at the Institute of Philosophical Studies of the Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) in Lugano. He is the author of many books and articles, including Introduzione a Heidegger.
