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Amazon.co.uk Review
Describing Umberto Eco as a writer is like describing the platypus as an animal. What do readers expect when they see the name "Umberto Eco" on a book jacket? A tricky question to answer given Eco's range and versatility: He has written books on semiotics (the study of signs), children's books, studies of the Middle Ages, books of essays on contemporary culture and, of course, novels--notably The Name of the Rose and The Island of the Day Before. So first a word of warning. Anyone familiar with Eco the novelist or essayist might well be dismayed by Kant and the Platypus, for this new book returns to his preoccupations of the 60s and 70s, to semiotics, the philosophy of language and cognitive semantics, and as such is initially daunting. The initial chapter, for example, discusses various philosophical concepts of "being". Secondly a word of encouragement. This is a wonderful engagement with issues of language, more than worth the effort, because Eco always returns to the perspective of "common sense", to the use of stories as a means of explicating even the most complex arguments.
(i) Marco Polo, on coming across a rhinoceros for the first time, described the animal as a type of unicorn (thereby describing something real in terms of something legendary).
(ii) People who encountered the platypus in the 18th century had great difficulty in deciding exactly what kind of an animal it was (It could have been classified as a reptile, a bird or a mammal).
(iii) Given a dictionary or encyclopaedia definition of a mouse, how easy would it be to identify one if we had never seen one before?
These are some of the examples that Eco uses to explore the ways in which we see and describe the world, the ways in which cultures develop definitions and taxonomies. So, if you want to know "the reasons why we can tell an elephant from an armadillo" or why mirrors do not in fact reverse images, this book will tell you. In fact, it will also tell you why you know what I am talking about when I say "this book". Got it? No? Then get it. --Burhan Tufail --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
How we know that a cat is a cat is a nice philosophical poser, and has been since the time of Plato. Why we should all agree on calling the animal a cat is equally interesting, yet it throws up the problem that lies at the heart of all modern philosophy: how much do our perceptions of things depend on our cognitive ability, and how much on our linguistic resources? Where, and how, do these two questions meet? Having decided against a systematic treatment of his subject, Umberto Eco undertakes a series of idiosyncratic and typically brilliant explorations, starting from the perceived data of common sense, from which flow an abundance of 'stories' or fables, often with animals as protagonists, to expound a clear critique of Kant, Heidegger and Peirce. And, as a beast designed specifically to throw spanners in the works of cognitive theory, the duckbilled platypus naturally takes centre stage.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm neither a linguist nor a semiotician, but I found this book fascinating even though large portions of it are inaccessible to the average punter. Eco is trying to put his finger on just how we go about giving names to things, and distinguishing on thing from another. Such questions can seem excessively abstract to non-philosophers but Eco uses examples brilliantly to show how these questions are relevant in the real world. In particular, he uses the curious history of the categorising of the duck-billed platypus as a symbol of the difficulty of labelling something that appears to exist in a space between all known categories. These examples allow digressions on subjects such as Marco Polo's encounter with a rhinoceros (or was it a unicorn?), which are entertaining in their own right, while being linked perfectly to to the subject at hand. Large portions of the book are jargon-packed discussions of semiotic theory, but it's worth skimming them, because there is plenty to engage your interest along the way, and the conclusion is very satisfying, even if the questions haven't been answered absolutely. I give the book 4 rather than 5 stars because I was annoyed at the way quotations in Latin, German, French, etc. are left untranslated, sometimes at crucial points in the argument. This is neither big nor clever; indeed, it simply repels the interested layman.
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's rare that I fail to finish a book, but this is one of the times I failed. I am absolutely fascinated by the subject matter - how do we understand knowledge, how do we create meaningful categories for stuff and how does this create inherent limits to our understanding and knowledge? But I could not get to grips with Eco's deeply academic rendering of the subject.
The back cover describes this book as "full of jokes, connundra and startling insights". Sorry, but I didn't see this - just pages full of esoteric discussions that required hours of study to deconvolute into something meaningful. After trying four times, I have now given up - this book goes to Oxfam, with good luck to a more persevering reader.
The back cover describes this book as "full of jokes, connundra and startling insights". Sorry, but I didn't see this - just pages full of esoteric discussions that required hours of study to deconvolute into something meaningful. After trying four times, I have now given up - this book goes to Oxfam, with good luck to a more persevering reader.
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read The Fabric Of Reality and found it a very enjoyable, stimulating and interesting read. I was hoping this book would provide a similar read in the area of semiotics, but so far it has just been incredibly hard work. It is very difficult to read and impossible for me to understand in places. I do not have in-depth knowledge of philosophy, meta-physics or whatever the heck it is he's talking about. I think this is working against me. The numerous references to external works are extremely intimidating.
I gave it 3 stars because I haven't finish it yet and would like to give the author benefit of the doubt for what was left. All in all, if before buying this book I had tried to read the first chapter I wouldn't have wound up wasting 20 sheets on it.
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