Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars & Media Populism by Umberto Eco

Horn Tooting Scale: 4 Toots

• 1 toot for Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher, semiotician, and medievalist
• 2nd for incredibly erudite collection of essays
• 3rd for being from a European perspective
• 4th for (re)introducing me to many philosophical concepts

Points of Interest:

• Bentham's panopticon - an 18th century prison design that is useful as a metaphor
• Prediction that the US will slowly become Pacific centered, with the East Coast becoming merely a cultural capital
  
• The carnavalization of life - everything is fun and exciting
  
• Benedetto Croce - Crocean aesthetics
• Poujadism - French xenophobic philosophy
• Hymn to Satan - poem by Carducci 1865 extolling triumph of rationalism over the Church

Synopsis:

This is a collection of essays and excerpts from lectures by Umberto Eco from 2000 through 2005. Some of the essays regarding the start of the 2nd Gulf War and the rise of Berlusconi in Italy are dated from a current events perspective, but are interesting in a historical perspective. The result of reading this collection is an overwhelming respect for Signor Eco's mind. I want to be inside his head for a week or a month, just to sort through all of the amazing stuff that he knows! Admittedly, his knowledge is very Euro-centered, but is still vastly greater than that of any 20 men on the street. Just casually reading these essays was a fantastic refresher course in philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, political science, theology, and history. I found myself googling new terms many times throughout the book.

The 41 essays in this book range from 4 pages to 30ish. The topics cover everything from Italian politics and the media to modern warfare (neowar vs. paleowar) to Nigerian beauty pageants to Harry Potter to the Passion of the Christ to the Knights Templar to the scientific method and the end of history. At no point is he giving a lecture on his fabulous storehouse of knowledge. Rather, in commenting on a current situation or event, Eco evaluates this event by criterion that most of us do not have. He might arrive at the same conclusion reached by millions of other people, but the route he takes is much more interesting than the destination.

I can't recommend this highly enough! Not every essay was a hit for me, but as a whole, the collection was mentally stimulating and inspiring. It's wonderful to be reminded that there are people in this world who think!