Ethics And Nihilism In The Philosophy Of Weak Thought Of Gianni Vattimo

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to outline the relationship between nihilism and ethics according to an Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo (1936–) and his concept of weak thought. Nihilism denotes a broadly-conceived cultural phenomenon in which the idea of nothingness plays a crucial role. One of the most important tasks, facing contemporary philosophy is not so much overcoming nihilism, as understanding its essence and looking for appropriate forms of ethics. Nihilist ethics of mercy is possible, with the reservation that it is a variety of weak ethics which ignores transcendence and is threatened by relativism.

Keywords

• bioethics
• ethics
• nihilism
• normativity
• relativism
• weak thought