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A review by marc129
Not Being God: A Collaborative Autobiography by Gianni Vattimo
2.0
"An intellectual I may be, but first and foremost I come from the lower depths, I'm not well-born, I've come from nowhere, and as if that weren't enough - I'm a miserable ex-Catholic"
Before this one I read the short book [b:Belief|86105|Belief|Gianni Vattimo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503092966l/86105._SY75_.jpg|370152] that Vattimo published in 1995 about his emotional return to his Catholic faith (although you have to take that with a grain of salt). The book left me very unsatisfied, but perhaps that was because I didn't know Vattimo and his philosophical work very well. This book makes up for that. It is a kind of autobiography in the form of a long conversation with a (fictitious?) friend.
Like any autobiography, this book is highly apologetic and also illustrates the petty-human, vain aspects of Vattimo. But he is not afraid to also talk about the uncertainties in his very erratic life course, even about rather intimate matters, for example his personal struggle with his homosexuality.
On the basis of this book it is perfectly possible to reconstruct an intellectual biography of Vattimo: his proletarian descent and militant Catholic commitment in his youth and years of study, in the 1950s; his steep academic career as a philosopher, coupled with a strong left-wing commitment, ranging from maoism to classical communism to libertarian anarchism. As mentioned in "Belief", the postmodernism of René Girard in particular brought him back into the Christian realm, although that seems more like a return to the warm security of his former environment. Not only philosophical musings (his concept of "soft thinking"), but also the loss of some loved ones played a role in this.
And that brings us to the vulnerable Vattimo, who, with his postmodern relativism, has a keen eye for the uncertainties of existence and an aversion to scientism and fundamentalism (both religious and rationalistic). In this way, this book provides a good view on the fragile existence of a man who, after his very public role (also in politics), at 70, consciously chooses to "not being God" anymore.
Before this one I read the short book [b:Belief|86105|Belief|Gianni Vattimo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503092966l/86105._SY75_.jpg|370152] that Vattimo published in 1995 about his emotional return to his Catholic faith (although you have to take that with a grain of salt). The book left me very unsatisfied, but perhaps that was because I didn't know Vattimo and his philosophical work very well. This book makes up for that. It is a kind of autobiography in the form of a long conversation with a (fictitious?) friend.
Like any autobiography, this book is highly apologetic and also illustrates the petty-human, vain aspects of Vattimo. But he is not afraid to also talk about the uncertainties in his very erratic life course, even about rather intimate matters, for example his personal struggle with his homosexuality.
On the basis of this book it is perfectly possible to reconstruct an intellectual biography of Vattimo: his proletarian descent and militant Catholic commitment in his youth and years of study, in the 1950s; his steep academic career as a philosopher, coupled with a strong left-wing commitment, ranging from maoism to classical communism to libertarian anarchism. As mentioned in "Belief", the postmodernism of René Girard in particular brought him back into the Christian realm, although that seems more like a return to the warm security of his former environment. Not only philosophical musings (his concept of "soft thinking"), but also the loss of some loved ones played a role in this.
And that brings us to the vulnerable Vattimo, who, with his postmodern relativism, has a keen eye for the uncertainties of existence and an aversion to scientism and fundamentalism (both religious and rationalistic). In this way, this book provides a good view on the fragile existence of a man who, after his very public role (also in politics), at 70, consciously chooses to "not being God" anymore.