Vittorio Possenti 
Nihilism and Metaphysics 
The Third Voyage

Challenging the idea that nihilism has supplanted metaphysics, Vittorio Possenti finds in this philosophical turn the grounds for a mature renewal of metaphysics. Possenti takes the reader on a ‘third voyage’ that goes beyond the ‘second voyage’ indicated by Plato in the
Phaedo. He traces the ascendancy of nihilism in philosophy, offering critical examinations of Nietzsche, Gentile, Heidegger, Habermas, Husserl, Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Vattimo. With penetrating accounts of philosophical movements such as hermeneutics and logical empiricism, rich with both historical and theoretical insights, Possenti provides a compelling defense of the power of human reason to apprehend the most obvious but also the most profound aspect of things: that they exist. By exploring the ubiquity of nihilism and probing its philosophical roots, Possenti clears the way for a fresh reformulation of metaphysics.

Table of Content

Foreword

Translator’s Introduction and Acknowledgments

Introduction



1. The Question of Nihilism and the Knowledge of Being



2. Metaphysical Knowledge of Existence



3. Being, Intellect, and Abstractive Intuition



4. The Status of First Principles



5. Speculative Nihilism: Nietzsche and Gentile



6. Heidegger



7. Eight Theses on Postmetaphysical Thinking: Jürgen Habermas



8. The Two Roads of Hermeneutics



9. Logical Empiricism and Analytic Philosophy



10. Consequences of Nihilism



11. Toward the Determination of Practical Nihilism



12. Progress in Philosophy?



13. The Third Voyage



14. Ontological Humanism and the Person



15. Between the Present and the Future



Appendix 1: Antirealism and the Schism between Man and Reality

Appendix 2: Texts of Thomas Aquinas without Comment

Appendix 3: Intellectual Intuition, “Anticipation, ” and Judgment in Karl Rahner

Appendix 4: More on Intellectual Intuition

Appendix 5: The Appeal to the Experience of Self as a Type of Natural Mysticism

Appendix 6: The Critique of Onto-theology

Appendix 7: What Is Nihilism? A Look at the Encyclical
Fides et Ratio



Notes

Index

About the author

Vittorio Possent is Professor of Political Philosophy at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in Italy and the author of many other books.
Daniel B. Gallagher is an Official in the Latin Section of the Vatican Secretariat of State.