
The Fundamental Tendency of Our Time
On the Technological Destiny of the West
Emanuele Severino(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 8. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
200 pages
978-1-350-46835-1 (ISBN)
Description
The Fundamental Tendency of Our Times (Tendenza) is the Italian philosopher Emanuele Severino's crucial reflection on modern technology and science, in which he articulates his major contribution to the analysis of Western modernity: the claim that, beginning with Greek civilization, a nihilistic spirit of domination informs our conceptual and social systems.
In this book Severino applies his framework to the geopolitical situation before the fall of the Berlin Wall; yet his insights have continuing relevance in light of the current threat of ecological collapse accelerated by an orientation to the world as an object of exploitation.
Significant for its parallels with, and differences from, Heidegger's discussion of technology, this book's explicit discussion of politics gives essential clarification to Severino's notoriously complex philosophical discourse. With a foreword contextualizing the historical moment of its publication, this first English translation will be invaluable for those interested in understanding the thought of one of the most remarkable Italian theorists of the 20th century.
Published with the kind support of SEPS (Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche).
In this book Severino applies his framework to the geopolitical situation before the fall of the Berlin Wall; yet his insights have continuing relevance in light of the current threat of ecological collapse accelerated by an orientation to the world as an object of exploitation.
Significant for its parallels with, and differences from, Heidegger's discussion of technology, this book's explicit discussion of politics gives essential clarification to Severino's notoriously complex philosophical discourse. With a foreword contextualizing the historical moment of its publication, this first English translation will be invaluable for those interested in understanding the thought of one of the most remarkable Italian theorists of the 20th century.
Published with the kind support of SEPS (Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche).
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
282 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-46835-1 (9781350468351)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Emanuele Severino (1929 -2020) was an Italian philosopher. An original thinker and public intellectual, he is considered one of the most important Italian thinkers of the 20th century.
Antimo Lucarelli is a translator at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK.
Antimo Lucarelli is a translator at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK.
Author
Translation
School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK
Content
Foreword, Ines Testoni, Damiano Sacco and Giulio Goggi
"In Technology We Trust": An Introduction to Emanuele Severino's Understanding of the Human Technological Era, Antimo Lucarelli
Introduction
1. About the "Crisis"
2. The Fundamental Tendency of Our Time and the Meaning of the Future
3. The Ethics of Science
4. Elenchos
5. What is Europe?
6. Notes on the Italian State of Affairs
7. Summary: The West as the History of Nihilism
Index
"In Technology We Trust": An Introduction to Emanuele Severino's Understanding of the Human Technological Era, Antimo Lucarelli
Introduction
1. About the "Crisis"
2. The Fundamental Tendency of Our Time and the Meaning of the Future
3. The Ethics of Science
4. Elenchos
5. What is Europe?
6. Notes on the Italian State of Affairs
7. Summary: The West as the History of Nihilism
Index