The End of Metaphysics? Gianni Vattimo on the Will to Power as Art in the Age of the Internet

Matthew Edward Harris

Matthew Edward Harris Philosophy Department, Staffordshire University UK

Abstract

The philosopher Gianni Vattimo has put forward that we are living after the death of God and end of metaphysics, that Being is in inexorable decline. In part, this is due to the effects of information and communications technology giving mass exposure to minority voices, exposing the subjectivity (and contingency) of representation, of Heidegger’s interpretation of Nietzsche’s notion of the will to power as the culmination of metaphysics. Vattimo puts forward the figure of the Übermensch negotiating the traces of tradition liberated through information and communications technology (and the media more broadly) in an artistic way, creating pastiches and wearing masks and costumes in an ironic way. However, I would argue that cookies, social media and Apple technologies reassert the ego (the foundational modern metaphysical bedrock) and bring back hierarchical distinctions in a strong sense, that they show a non-reactive challenge to nihilism that questions ‘weak thought.’

Author Biography

Matthew Edward Harris, Philosophy Department, Staffordshire University UK

Matthew Edward Harris is a doctoral candidate in the Philosophy Department at Staffordshire Univeristy. Graduating first class from Oxford University (BA Philosophy and Theology), Harris holds higher degrees from the universities of Bristol and Birmingham. Currently he is the Head of Religious Studies at Warminster School. Harris has published numerous articles on the philosophy of Gianni Vattimo, his area of doctoral research, for journals such as The European Legacy, The International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, Parrhesia, Minerva, Kritike and others besides.

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