Essere nichilista

Con Heidegger tra Nietzsche e Cristianesimo

Abstract

The paper tries to reveal Gianni Vattimo’s account on faith as religious experience as well as introduce it into the context of his hermeneutical ontology. It also discusses the phenomenon of return of religion as the main feature of the contemporary religious experience itself, with particular emphasis on its nihilistic character. In order to disclose the reflexivity as the mediatory factor of thinking, which represents the gap in respect of reality and nihilism itself, the phrase of Vattimo “credere di credere” is taken into consideration. Instead of trying to interpret the meaning of this phrase along the lines of Vattimo’s philosophy, the article gives a preference to enhance the context as well as juxtapose this phrase providing both a quotation from Dostoyevsky’s Demons and Sartre’s account on faith. As Dostoyevsky puts it: “If Stavrogin believes, he does not believe that he believes, and if he does not believe, then he does not believe that he does not believe.” Meanwhile Sartre suggests: “To believe is to know that one believes, and to know that one believes is no longer to believe”. Such a juxtaposition of three approaches not only helps to reveal the hermeneutical character of Vattimo’s nihilism, but also discloses the act of reflection as the center of nihilistic move itself.