Umberto Eco 1932 – 2016
Umberto Eco (1932 – 2016) was an Italian philosopher of the Contemporary era, associated with Continental Philosophy and Post-Structuralism.
Umberto Eco was an Italian philosopher, semiotician, novelist, and one of the most widely read public intellectuals of his time. A Theory of Semiotics and The Role of the Reader laid out the systematic philosophical foundations of his semiotics, in which the open work invites the reader as co-producer of meaning, while The Limits of Interpretation defended a textual rationality against the unconstrained drift of post-structural reading. His novels, beginning with The Name of the Rose and continuing through Foucault's Pendulum and The Prague Cemetery, embodied his philosophical concerns in widely read fiction.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Italian
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Continental Philosophy, Post-Structuralism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Umberto Eco:
“Every text is a lazy machine asking the reader to do part of its work.”
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Attributed to Umberto Eco:
“The list is the origin of culture.”
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Attributed to Umberto Eco:
“Translation is the art of failure.”
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Attributed to Umberto Eco:
“We like lists because we do not want to die.”
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Attributed to Umberto Eco:
“There are limits to interpretation, and they are inscribed in the text itself.”
Frequently asked about Umberto Eco
- When did Umberto Eco live?
- Umberto Eco was born in 1932 and died in 2016.
- Where was Umberto Eco from?
- Umberto Eco was an Italian philosopher of the Contemporary era.
- What philosophical movements is Umberto Eco associated with?
- Umberto Eco was associated with Continental Philosophy and Post-Structuralism.
- What was Umberto Eco known for?
- Umberto Eco was an Italian philosopher, semiotician, novelist, and one of the most widely read public intellectuals of his time.
- How many quotes are attributed to Umberto Eco?
- There are 15 attributed quotations from Umberto Eco in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.