Conference at International Workshop in Genova, „The life of communication. Knowledges, Practices and Powers”, october 2011, postdoctoral project POSDRU/89/1.5/S/63663, University of Genova, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.

Abstract: The skepticism represented a strong philosophical movement, at the twilight of Antiquity, within the school of Pyrrhon, its subsequent apparitions within the history of philosophy being just some minor throbs. But skepticism is not yet dead. During the last century one finds on the stage of philosophy a thinker who was born in Romania and would later become famous, in France. We are dealing with a thinker – Emil Cioran – who speaks about philosophy, writing, birth, life, death, suicide, history, civilization, God, etc. in a skeptical manner, even if it`s a moderate skeptical one. It is a solitary phenomenon, and also a surprising one, totally against the optimistic stream of thought of Western society which was at its peak of civilization and…