The blog of Gianni Vattimo

Every so often we like to check in and remind readers of the blogs written by Columbia University Press authors. The phrase “public intellectual” is probably at once both misunderstood and overused. However, it would be hard to deny that appellation to Italian philosopher and member of the European parliament Gianni Vattimo, and his blog perfectly illustrates his broad range of interests. (Please note the preceding link goes to the Google-translated version of Vattimo’s blog which leads to some odd wording and sentence construction but for those fortunate enough to read Italian, click here)

We featured Vattimo’s blog a couple of months ago but since then he has written on such subjects as the conditions in Italian prisons, the Pope’s view of Saint Anselm’s ontological proof of the existence of God, the Church’s position on the RU486 pill, recent anti-gay legislation in Lithuania, issues of piracy and copyright, and failures of the democratic process in Italy. The blog also provides a fascinating insider’s view of the frequently frustrating and inadequate workings of the European parliament.

For more on Vattimo, as we mentioned earlier this week, there is his recently published autobiography Not Being God, which was recently reviewed by A Fistful of Euros.