The Origins Of Umberto Eco’s Semio-Philosophical Project

Abstract

Umberto Eco’s semiotics, unlike that of most of his colleagues, has always claimed to be a philosophical research. For Eco, general semiotics, that is, the research on the functioning of signs, was a fundamental part of philosophy, because the knowledge of objects and the formulation of the ideas that characterize them takes place by means of signs. This paper shows how Eco’s semiotic work derives from his philosophical training and how interest in the mass media and political commitment have not changed the nature of his philosophical project. His research itinerary is compared with that of other semiotics scholars to show the originality of his approach.