Abstract

Gianni Vattimo is renowned for his doctrine of weak thinking, which argues for a dialogical non‐fundamentalist approach to philosophy, an hermeneutically oriented critique of metaphysics and modernism devoted to unmasking privileged positions of authority and power, a deconstruction of Western philosophy as a pathway to nihilism, and finally a development of hermeneutics as a postmodern defense of Christianity in secularized form. He recognizes in hermeneutic philosophy the double effectiveness of philosophical engagement. Vattimo repositions Nietzsche's nihilism with debates concerning modernity and postmodernity. Nietzsche's analysis of negative and affirmative nihilism sustains Vattimo's signature distinction between strong and weak thought. Vattimo's social and political perspective has clear theological undertones. The outcome of unending individual qualitative transformation is not arrival in a promised land but graceful acceptance of what humans are: hermeneutic creatures whose essence resides in tireless negotiation and transformation.