From the Tree to the Labyrinth: Historical Studies on the Sign and Interpretation - Hardcover

Umberto Eco

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674049187 ISBN 13: 9780674049185

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2014

Synopsis

The way we create and organize knowledge is the theme of From the Tree to the Labyrinth, a major achievement by one of the world’s foremost thinkers on language and interpretation. Umberto Eco begins by arguing that our familiar system of classification by genus and species derives from the Neo-Platonist idea of a “tree of knowledge.” He then moves to the idea of the dictionary, which―like a tree whose trunk anchors a great hierarchy of branching categories―orders knowledge into a matrix of definitions. In Eco’s view, though, the dictionary is too rigid: it turns knowledge into a closed system. A more flexible organizational scheme is the encyclopedia, which―instead of resembling a tree with finite branches―offers a labyrinth of never-ending pathways. Presenting knowledge as a network of interlinked relationships, the encyclopedia sacrifices humankind’s dream of possessing absolute knowledge, but in compensation we gain the freedom to pursue an infinity of new connections and meanings.

Moving effortlessly from analyses of Aristotle and James Joyce to the philosophical difficulties of telling dogs from cats, Eco demonstrates time and again his inimitable ability to bridge ancient, medieval, and modern modes of thought. From the Tree to the Labyrinth is a brilliant illustration of Eco’s longstanding argument that problems of interpretation can be solved only in historical context.

About this title

About the Author

Umberto Eco (1932–2016) was an acclaimed writer, philosopher, medievalist, and semiotician. In addition to dozens of nonfiction books, he authored seven novels, including The Name of the Rose, which has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674049187
• ISBN 13: 9780674049185
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 590