Weak Thought

Weak thought (il pensiero debole) is a slogan associated with the work of a group of contemporary Italian philosophers, notably Gianni Vattimo and Aldo Gargani. Reacting against the long Italian tradition of creating all-encompassing, "strong" systems of thought, the exponents of weak thought mount a critique of metaphysics that owes much to Heidegger but refuses his attempt to create a new ONTOLOGY. Rather, like many French poststructuralists, weak thinkers recognize the impossibility of dispensing with metaphysical discourse (see METAPHYSICS), instead preferring to underline the metaphorical status of ontological language and the limits of universal reason. Like much POSTSTRUCTURALISM, therefore, weak thought insists on a self-consciousness about the metaphorical status of language and a recognition of the heterogeneity of experience.