Pensiero isolante, nichilismo e destino

Prospettive storico-teoriche sull’essenza della matematica nel pensiero di Emanuele Severino

Abstract

Isolating Thought, Nihilism and Destiny: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on the Essence of Mathematics in Emanuele Severino’s Philosophy

This article seeks to investigate the relationship between mathematics and philosophy within the framework of the thought of Italian philosopher Emanuele Severino. The study is articulated in three parts. The first part aims to reconstruct the historical-conceptual trajectory of contemporary science and mathematics in light of what Severino designates as the «sunset of the epistéme». The second part focuses on a paradigmatic case: Giacomo Leopardi, in whose poetic and philosophical production the themes of mathematics, analysis, nothingness, and the impossibility of all forms of power converge. The third and final section endeavours to establish a connection between certain mathematical notions and the «language that bears witness to the destiny of truth».
The contribution pursues a twofold objective: on the one hand, to demonstrate that the relationship between philosophy and mathematics may be elucidated through the notion of separation from truth—both from a historical-conceptual standpoint (as developed in the first and second sections) and from a theoretical perspective (addressed in the third); on the other hand, to underscore the enduring relevance and theoretical significance of Severino’s philosophical project within the context of contemporary thought.