Challenging the Absolute
Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Europe's Struggle Against Fundamentalism
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Our contemporary world presents a seemingly inexplicable paradox. It is a world where interaction among societies of different cultural traditions has never been easier. A world in which modern technology has visibly overcome the physical barriers that had long condemned the majority of men to relative isolation from one another. Yet, our world is also one in which the illusion of a lost "original" cultural or religious identity, grounded by a metaphysical absolute, pits men against one another. A physically more accessible world has thus become an increasingly fundamentalist one. In this book, written in the wake of such influential European thinkers as Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, and Vattimo, Simon Oliai analyzes the conceptual underpinnings of this paradox and argues that, unless the "European" affirmation of man's finite existence becomes universal, we shall never rid ourselves, to echo Nietzsche, of the repressive shadow of a long dead metaphysical idol.
About this Author
Simon F. Oliai is a former UNESCO adviser on the worldwide promotion of the humanities, as well as a philosopher of history who has studied and lectured in the United States, France, and Iran. He has organized several noted international seminars in Europe and the Middle East and is the editor of the landmark international anniversary dossier on the Martin Heidegger, which was published by the French review Portique in 2006.
Reviews
I am strongly convinced that the crucial analysis of the metaphysical underpinnings of all manner of contemporary fundamentalism by Simon Oliai shall have not only contributed to elaborating a more precise definition of the current role of Western philosophy, but, more significantly, shed light on the universal function of all critical thought in our world.
Ever since its first efforts at integration were undertaken, Europe has constituted, historically that is, a space for reconciliation. Moreover, Europe has been founded on values among which tolerance and acceptance of differences occupy a privileged position. Simon Oliai is thus right in underscoring this line of thought whilst insisting on the need for its constant application.
Very few people have such a profound and intellectual appreciation of the cultural history
and significance of Europe and Persia whilst also having lived in and experienced North America.
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