- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Reprint edition (Sep 30 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0156013258
- ISBN-13: 978-0156013253
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.5 x 1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #568,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
This slim book covers a lot of territory in a little over a hundred pages. Its five essays address everything from warfare to faith to the media, and Umberto Eco insists that they are all linked: "Despite the variety of their themes, they are all ethical in nature, that is to say, they treat of what we ought to do, what we ought not to do, and what we must not do at any cost." Several of his views are provocative. In listing the characteristics of what he calls "Ur-Fascism," for instance, Eco describes many of the beliefs held by modern-day conservatives. He also remarks: "Europe will become a multiracial continent--or a 'colored' one, if you prefer. That's how it will be, whether you like it or not. This meeting (or clash) of cultures could lead to bloodshed, and I believe to a certain extent it will." Fans of Eco's bestselling novels won't necessarily be drawn to Five Moral Pieces, though readers who have enjoyed his nonfiction will want to explore this small collection. --John Miller
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Most famous for his complex, erudite novels, semiotician and literary theorist Eco (Foucault's Pendulum, etc.) devotes these occasional essays primarily to the quest for tolerance in an intolerant world and to the intellectual responsibility of individuals to confront difficult moral problems directly. Eco observes, for example, that war contradicts "the very reasons for which it is waged" in a world where telecommunications technology and constant migration render traditional rationalizations for war (e.g., the defense of borders) obsolete. In the end, he argues, war cannot be defended, for, in addition to its manifold evils, it is a wasteful enterprise, squandering lives and resources. In another essay, Eco contends that ethical principles can indeed be articulated apart from any grounding in religious faith, though a natural ethic and a religious ethic may share common ground. Examining the reporting techniques of several Italian newspapers, he asserts that they share a moral responsibility to inform rather than to titillate with gossip and advertising. In the collection's most eloquent essay, Eco sketches the universal elements of fascism (such as "the cult of tradition" and a "suspicion of intellectual life"), emphasizing that such elements persist even today and can appear in the most innocent guises. Finally, he reveals the complex bond linking migration, with the resulting impact of one culture on another, and intolerance, concluding that the only solution is to teach tolerance from birth. Eco's fans will enjoy his perspective on these issues, but aside from his worthy reflections on fascism, these pieces neither ask new questions nor reach startling conclusions; some are even quite simplistic (e.g., "War is a waste").
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
This article considers War with a capital W, as in "hot" war waged with the explicit consensus of nations, in the form it has assumed in the contemporary world. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
This article considers War with a capital W, as in "hot" war waged with the explicit consensus of nations, in the form it has assumed in the contemporary world. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The First is the Best,
By
This review is from: Five Moral Pieces (Paperback)
These are five essays previously written by Eco for various publications. Most of them are of interest to those who study European politics and cultural life. If you are not interested in the Italian press or post WWII Facism in Europe and are not familiar with some of the well known players, parts of these essays will make no sense to you. However, the first essay, "Reflections on War," is worth the price. This essay was written about the first "gulf" war in Kuwait. Reading in now in a post-Iraq war frame is even more interesting. Eco predicts the neo-conservative view that active imposition of democracy by the developed nations will begin to occur in the middle east and elsewhere and he gives some brillant insight into this thinking. The other essays have thoughts worth reading even if the topics are not your cup of tea. Like all of Eco's work, this is highly readable and not at all obtuse.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Five Essays Intrigue, But Never Emerge from the Mist,
By
This review is from: Five Moral Pieces (Paperback)
This was the first book by Eco that I've ever read. I was intrigued by the blurb on the back cover: "Eco argues that tolerance is today's ultimate value...Eco reflects on a question underlying all the essays in the book: What does it mean to be moral or ethical when one doesn't believe in God?"Each of the five essays in this book deals with a discrete theme: pacifism in the abstract, ethics without God, how the media's choice of news stories is a whole spin in itself, how Americans blur diverse ideologies into a single "Fascism," and how tolerance is needed as Europe becomes increasingly multiracial. Since I had bought the book to learn about Eco's moral theory, I was most interested in the first, second, and fifth essays. The other two seemed misplaced. I had never previously given thought to their themes, and so, while they were eye-opening, I wasn't ready to travel with Eco into the deep details of it (such as the fourteen characteristics of Fascism in the popular consciousness). On the other hand, I wished he had gone further into depth in the essays that dealt with peace, morality, and tolerance. McEwen's translation is elegant, and every now and then a passage spoke to me enough that I wrote it down or, in one case, emailed the quotation to a friend who I thought would be interested. ....
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely relevant thought pieces for today's world,
By Ali Hanafi (Huntington Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Five Moral Pieces (Hardcover)
While the book is on the pricey side, it contains some extremely relevant thought pieces for our world today. The essays are meant to provoke further thinking on the subjects rather than provide any pat answers. The essays on immigration and intolerance and the characteristics of fascism are particularly worth reading.
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