Abstract

The 'end of the world' opens up philosophical questions concerning the very notion of the world, which is a fundamental element of all existential, phenomenological and hermeneutical philosophy. Is the 'end of the world' for us 'somebody's' death (the end of 'being-in-the-world') or the extinction of many or of all (the end of the world itself)? Is the erosion of the 'world' a phenomenon that does not in fact affect the notion of the world as a fundamental feature of all existential-ontological inquiry?

This volume examines the present state of these concerns in philosophy, film and literature. It presents a philosophical hermeneutics of the present state of the world and explores the principal questions of the philosophical accounts of the end of the world, such as finality and finitude. It also shows how literature and cinema have ventured to express the end of the world while asking if a consequent expression of the end of the world is also an end of its expression.
The End of the World: Contemporary Philosophy and Art deals with one of the most important narratives of all time, that of the end of the world, and the possibility that it could vanish into time and space without a trace. The contributions each offer a new insight into this possibility, with many fascinating perspectives on this very rich and complex topic.
Peter Trawny, Professor, Martin-Heidegger-Insitute, University of Wuppertal
Marcia Sa Cavalcante Schuback is Professor of Philosophy at Sodertorn University, Sweden. She has published widely in both English and Portuguese, including the Portuguese translation of Heidegger's Being and Time.

Susanna Lindberg is a Core Fellow at the Collegium for Advanced Studies of the University of Helsinki. She is co-editor of Europe Beyond Universalism and Particularism (2014) and the author of several books in French.