On the Shoulders of Giants

Home > Historical > On the Shoulders of Giants > Page 29
On the Shoulders of Giants Page 29

by Umberto Eco


  Bové, José, 18

  Bradbury, Ray, 121

  Breve storia della bugia (Bettetini), 170

  Broch, Hermann, 67

  Brown, Dan, 238, 250, 254–255, 260. See also Da Vinci Code, The (Brown)

  Brown, Fredric, 70

  Brunelleschi, Umberto, 136

  Bruno, Giordano, 74

  Buddha, 122–123

  Burke, Edmund, 38–39

  Burton, Robert, 71–72

  Cagliostro, 231

  camp, 68–69

  Canetti, Elias, 120

  Capet, Louis (Louis XVI, king of France), 15

  Carbonari, 230

  Carcass, The (Baudelaire), 63

  Carducci, Giosuè, 16

  Casablanca (film), 216–219

  Casanova, Giacomo, 232

  Catullus, 3

  Celestial Hierarchy (Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite), 32, 79, 103–104

  Céline, Louis-Ferdinand, 55

  Cellini, Benvenuto, 114

  Chamfort, Nicolas de, 152

  change, 94–95. See also innovation

  Chapman, George, 218

  Charcot, Jean-Martin, 276

  Chateaubriand, Francois-Rene de, 202–203

  Chesterton, Gilbert Keith, 261

  Chiesa, Giuletto, 245

  Chomsky, Noam, 253

  Chopin, Frédéric, 209

  Christianity: beauty in, 51; dwarfs-giants metaphor and, 14; fire in, 106–108; history and, 14; representations of God, 267–268; ugliness in, 51–52. See also God

  churches: Gothic, 32; ornamentation in, 37

  Cicero, 151

  cities, modern, 62–63

  claritas. See light / claritas

  Clement of Alexandria, 26

  clichés, 219

  climate change, 122

  codes, 223–224

  cognitive relativism, 85

  Coleridge, Samuel, 179

  color: Middle Ages and, 32; sense of, 104

  Commandments, 173

  Commentaries on Priscian (William of Conches), 12

  Commentary on the Celestial Hierarchy (Eriugena), 105

  Commentary on the Sentences (Bonaventure of Bagnoregio), 105

  commonplaces, reversed, 166–167

  communism, 74

  computers, generations and, 21

  Conan Doyle, Arthur, 128, 133. See also Holmes, Sherlock (fictional character)

  Confessio fraternitatis Roseae crucis. Ad eruditos Europae, 228

  confidentiality, right to, 225

  Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Ratzinger), 91

  Conjectures and Refutations (Popper), 247–248

  consensus, 93

  conspiracy, 234–236, 243–261; psychology of, 248, 251–253; real, 243. See also Da Vinci Code, The (Brown); 9 / 11; Protocols of the Elders of Zion

  Conspiracy (Pipes), 248

  conspiracy syndrome, 235–236, 251–253; The Da Vinci Code and, 250–251; 9 / 11 and, 244–245

  conspiracy theory, 244; The Da Vinci Code, 250–251, 254–255; difficulty of keeping secrets and, 246; Jesuits and, 249–250; Lincoln-Kennedy assasinations, 253–254; 9 / 11 and, 253, 254; proof of silence, 245; Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 188–189, 234, 247, 248; Rennes-le-Château, 255–261; techniques used to prove and justify, 253–255; Titanic, 249–250

  conspiracy theory of society, 246–248

  Constant, Benjamin, 175

  consumption, beauty of, 41

  Contre-enquete sur la morte d’Emma Bovary (Doumenc), 133

  Contro-dolore, Il (Palazzeschi), 65–66

  Contro il relativismo (Jervis), 90

  Copernican hypothesis, 15

  Corbu, Noël, 256

  counterfeiting, 183–189

  Count of Monte Cristo, The (Dumas), 127, 210–214

  Croce, Benedetto, 178, 204–206

  crocodile dilemma, 149–150

  Cromwell (Hugo), 59

  cryptographies, 223–224

  cultural relativism, 88–91

  cult works, 215–219

  Cuore (De Amicis), 54

  Curtiz, Michael, 216, 217

  Cyrano di Bergerac (film), 135

  D’Annunzio, Gabriel, 117, 120

  Dante Alighieri, 10, 209, 215; language and, 7–8; light in work of, 104–105; need for Virgil, 9; portrayal of hell, 106–107; powerlessness expressed by, 78–79. See also Divine Comedy (Dante); Inferno (Dante); Paradiso (Dante)

  Dantès, Edmond (fictional character), 127. See also Count of Monte Cristo, The (Dumas)

  Darwin, Charles, 16, 46

  Da Vinci Code, The (Brown), 238, 250–251, 254–255, 260–261

  De aeternitate mundi (Aquinas), 92

  De Amicis, Edmondo, 54

  Death of Empedocles, The (Hölderlin), 118–119

  de Bergerac, Cyrano, 58

  decadents, 16

  deception: fakes, 189–190. See also falsifications; lies

  de Cherisey, Philippe, 257

  De divisione naturae V (Eriugena), 207–208

  De docta ignorantia (Nicholas of Cusa), 75

  Defense of Flaccus (Cicero), 151

  deity, 266; incarnate, 267–268. See also sacred

  de la Peyrère, Isaac, 15

  de Lille, Alain, 10

  della Francesca, Piero, 30

  della Mirandola, Pico, 15

  de Molay, Jacques, 259

  demoniacal, 38

  demons, 258–259

  Dénarnaud, Marie, 256

  de Sade, Marquis, 61

  Descartes, René, 10, 178, 229–230

  de Sède, Gérard, 257, 257–258, 259, 260

  detachment, aesthetic, 42–44, 47

  De Vulgari Eloquentia (Dante), 7

  d’Honnecourt, Villard, 30

  Di Bernardo, Giuliano, 232–233

  Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermétique (Pernety), 110

  Diderot, Denis, 203

  Diogenes Laertius, 102, 149–150

  Dionysius the Carthusian, 268

  diplomacy, lies in, 174

  diplomatic forgery, 188–189

  dissimilitude, 267

  dissimulation, 174, 177–178

  Dissimulazione onesta (Accetto), 177–178

  Divine Comedy (Dante), 209, 215. See also Dante Alighieri; Inferno (Dante); Paradiso (Dante)

  Divine Names (Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite), 32

  divinity, 266; experience of, 268–284; fire and, 101–106. See also sacred

  Dizionario antiballistico (Pitigrilli), 154, 155

  Dolcino, Fra, 120

  Donation of Constantine, 184, 191

  Donna Grottesca (Metsys), 71

  Doré, Gustav, 33, 104

  doubles, 185

  Douglas, Karen, 252

  Doumenc, Philippe, 133

  drug abuse, generations and, 22

  du Bellay, Joachim, 57

  Duchamp, Marcel, 17

  Dumas, Alexandre, 127; The Count of Monte Cristo, 210–214; The Three Musketeers, 211

  dwarfs and giants metaphor. See father-son conflicts; giant-dwarf metaphor; shoulders of giants

  Eckhart, Meister, 268–269

  Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (Marx), 45–46

  ecstasy, aesthetic, 116–117

  ekpyrosis, 119, 121–123

  elements, threats to, 122. See also fire

  11 / 9. La cospirazione impossibile (9 / 11: The Impossible Conspiracy; Polidoro), 245

  Eliot, T. S., 217

  embryos, 84

  Empedocles, 118–119, 120

  Enciclopedia filosofica ISEDI, 25

  Encyclopédie (Diderot), 16

  enemy, 54–57

  Enlightenment, giant-dwarf metaphor and, 15–16

  Epimenides, 146–147

  Epimetheus, 112–113

  epiphany, fire and, 115–118

  Epistolae (Virgil), 6

  Epitomae (Virgil), 5

  Eriugena, John Scotus, 32, 105, 207–208

  Esperimento di Pot, L’ (Pitigrilli), 155
r />   Essai sur la secte des illuminés (de Luchet), 233–234

  Estetica (Pareyson), 201–202, 206–207, 208

  ethics: of lie, 173–176; without God, 95–96

  Evatlo, 149

  evil, 37

  excess, 203–214

  executions, descriptions of, 48–50

  facts, vs. interpretations, 93–96

  Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury), 121

  faith, 80; truth of, 92

  fakes, 189–190

  fallibilism, 87

  false identification, 183

  falsifications, 171–173, 183–189, 191

  Fama fraternitatis, 228

  fascists, 54–55

  fashion, 41

  father-son conflicts, 1; in Inferno, 8; reference to past in, 15–16. See also generational clash / generations; giant-dwarf metaphor; innovation; shoulders of giants

  Fatima, 108, 236–237, 278, 279–283

  Federal Reserve Bank, 249–250

  Ficino, Marsilio, 15

  fiction: vs. lying, 179–181; possible worlds in, 128–129

  fictional characters, 125–144; descriptions of, 126–127; destiny of, 144; diagnostic properties, 140–141; emotion and, 135, 141; fluctuating, 136–139, 140, 142–143; invisibility of, 125; making true statements about, 131–133; outside texts, 126, 132, 136–139; religion and, 142; semiotic objects and, 139, 140; strong identity of, 133; truth and, 130, 138

  fictionality, signals of, 180–181

  Fides et ratio (John Paul II), 91

  Filosofia della bugia (Tagliapietra), 170

  Filosofia della massoneria (Di Bernardo), 232–233

  fire, 98–124; alchemical, 109–112; beauty of, 103; as cause of art, 112–115; describing beauty in terms of, 117; as divine element, 101–106; ekpyrosis, 121–123; as epiphanic experience, 115–118; functions of, 98; hellfire, 106–108; making, 113–115; psychoanalysis of, 99–101; regenerating, 118–121; torture and, 120; of war, 121–122

  fireplace, 98

  Fire Sermon (Buddha), 122–123

  Firth, Raymond, 278

  Flagellation of Christ, The (della Francesca), 30

  Flame, The (D’Annunzio), 117

  Flaubert, Gustave, 221

  Fleming, Ian, 61

  fluctuating characters, 136–139, 140, 142–143

  Fludd, Robert, 228

  Fontanelle, Bernard Le Bovier de, 2

  forgeries, 183–189, 191, 257

  forgery, diplomatic, 188–189

  Formaggio, Dino, 25

  Forty Days, The (Maddalena de’ Pazzi), 272

  Foucault’s Pendulum (Eco), 238–242

  Frankenstein (Shelley), 59

  Frazetta, Frank, 69

  Freemasons, 231–233, 245, 254

  French Revolution, 234, 248

  Friedrich, Caspar David, 44, 79

  Fuoco greco, Il (Malerba), 121

  furor sententialis, 166

  Futurists, 65–66

  Gaelic, 7

  Gale, Megan, 20

  Galileo Galilei, 178

  Gassendi, Pierre, 12

  Gates, Bill, 22

  Gaudí, Antoni, 69, 218

  G8 conference, 19

  generational clash / generations: drug abuse and, 22; giant-dwarf metaphor and, 13; innovation and, 21; need for, 23; in 1968, 18; nonconformity and, 23; in philosophy, 8; requirements for, 19–20; technology and, 21; transgenerational models and, 20–21. See also father-son conflicts; giant-dwarf metaphor; innovation; shoulders of giants

  Gesuita moderno, Il (Gioberti), 249

  giant-dwarf metaphor, 1, 11; Christianity and, 14; Enlightenment and, 15–16; progress and, 13–14. See also generational clash / generations; shoulders of giants

  Gibson, Mel, 48

  Gioberti, Vincenzo, 249

  Giotto, 34

  globalization, 18–19

  global warming, 122

  Gluckman, Max, 13

  God, 266; absolute’s identification with, 74–75; associated with light, 31–32; direct experience of, 268–284; ethics without, 95–96; as Great Void, 268–272; representations of, 267–268. See also sacred

  good: vs. beautiful, 42; beauty identified with, 50

  Goretti, Maria, 279

  gossip, 225–226

  Gozzano, Guido, 66–67

  Gracián, Baltasar, 174, 178, 224

  grammar, imperfect tense in, 221

  “Grandmother Speranza’s Friend” (Gozzano), 66–67

  Great Schism, 173

  Greek culture, ugliness and, 50–51

  Greek fire, 121

  Gregory of Tours, 4

  Greimas, Algirdas, 196

  Gronchi pink stamp, 199

  Grosseteste, Robert, 33, 34, 105

  Gryphius, Andreas, 57–58

  Guénon, Réné, 229

  Guercino, 258

  Guerrini, Olindo, 64–65

  Guevara, Che, 18

  Guggenheim, Benjamin, 249

  Guimard, Hector, 68

  Guinizelli, Guido, 26, 104

  Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), 180–181

  Ham (Biblical figure), 2

  Hamlet (Shakespeare), 217

  hearth, 98

  Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 7, 14, 16, 51, 78

  height, of ancestors, 9–10

  hellfire, 106–108

  Heraclitus, 102, 118, 119

  hierophancy, 263, 277

  Hildegard of Bingen, 33, 54

  Hisperic aesthetic, 4–5

  historical statements, 132

  history: excessive use of, 17–18; as progress, 14; uncertainty in, 132–133, 172. See also ancestors / ancients; past

  History of Fra Dolcino, Heresiarch, 120

  Hitler, Adolf, 130, 132

  Hofstadter, Richard, 252

  Hölderlin, Friedrich, 118–119

  holism, 86–88

  Holmes, Sherlock (fictional character), 128, 129, 138

  Holy Grail, 255–261

  Holy Grail, The (Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln), 259, 260–261

  Homer, 247

  Hooke, Robert, 12

  Horace, 3, 19

  Hugo, Victor, 59–60

  humanism, 14–15

  Hume, David, 16

  Huppert, Isabelle, 136

  “Hymn to Satan” (Carducci), 16

  Iamblichus, 45

  Ibn Khaldun, 223

  Ignatius of Loyola, 51–52

  Iliad, 50

  Illuminati, 230, 234, 249

  image, Ockhamist theory of, 264–266

  imperfection, 196–221; aesthetics of ruins, 202–203; in art, 201–224; bad music, 219–221; cult works, 215–219; padding / excess, 203–214; structure / support as, 204–214; sublime and, 219

  imperfect tense, 221

  Importance of Being Ernest, The (Wilde), 161

  Incarnation of Jesus Christ, The (Böhme), 271

  inconceivable, 78

  indefinite, 79

  industrial ugliness, 63–64

  Inferno (Dante), 8. See also Dante Alighieri; Divine Comedy (Dante)

  infinite, 79

  infinite, actual, 147

  infinite, potential, 147–148

  Infinito, L’ (Leopardi), 209

  Ingarden, Roman, 127

  innovation, 9; acceptance of, 21–23; constant, 23; in language, 4–8; opposition to, 3; praise of ancients and, 10; pride in, 4. See also father-son conflicts; generational clash / generations

  In Praise of Imperfection (Levi-Montalcini), 196

  insolubilia, 146

  integritas, 197

  integrity, beauty and, 35

  internet, generations and, 21

  interpretant sign, 28. See also signs

  interpretations, vs. facts, 93–96

  invisibility / invisible, 125–144; sacred as, 262; secret societies and, 230. See also fictional characters

  Irish (language), 7

  irony, 183

  Isaac (Biblical figure), 2

  Isidore of Seville, 151

 
; Italian (language), 7–8

  Jacob (Biblical figure), 2

  Jacobins, 234

  Jeauneau, Édouard, 11

  Jerome, Saint, 4–5

  Jervis, Giovanni, 90

  Jesuits, 176, 178, 249–250

  Jews: descriptions of, 55–57; 9 / 11 conspiracy theory and, 244; Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 188–189, 234, 247, 248; on Titanic, 249–250

  John of Salisbury, 11, 12, 13

  John of the Cross, Saint, 80, 81, 269–271, 277

  John Paul II (pope), 91, 236

  John XXIII (pope), 236

  Jolley, Daniel, 252

  Jones, Jennifer, 278

  Joyce, James, 17, 75, 117, 118

  Judaism in Music (Wagner), 56

  Kafka, Franz, 80

  Kant, Immanuel, 16, 85, 175, 176, 177

  Karenina, Anna (fictional character), 126–127, 128, 130, 133, 135, 138, 141

  Keats, John, 80–81, 97

  Kennedy, John F., 253–254

  Key, The (Tanizaki), 200–201

  kitsch, 66–68, 214

  Knights Templar, 231, 234, 248, 257, 259

  Kraus, Karl, 167–168

  Kugelmass Episode, The (film), 141

  Kyd, Thomas, 217, 218

  Kyoto Protocol, 122

  Labruyère, Joël, 249

  language: innovation in, 4–8; vernacular, 6–8, 19

  Last Judgment (Giotto), 34

  Last Supper (Leonardo), 254–255

  Latin, 4

  La Tour, Georges de, 32

  Lautréamont, Comte de [Isidore Ducasse], 65

  Léa (d’Aurevilly), 26–27, 59

  Lec, Stanislaw J., 168–169

  Lecaldano, Eugenio, 95

  Leibniz, Wilhelm Gottfried, 184

  Leigh, Richard, 259, 260–261

  Lenin, Vladimir, 81

  Leonardo da Vinci, 30, 254–255

  Leopardi, Giacomo, 14, 79, 199, 209

  Lettres provinciales (Pascal), 249

  Levi-Montalcini, Rita, 196

  Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 114

  Lhomoy, Roger, 257

  liar, self-professed, 146–147

  lies, 169–195; bad faith, 182–183; in Baroque era, 176–179; based on monadic relationship, 182–183; based on triadic relationship, 183; in diplomacy, 174; Eco’s definition of, 170–171; ethics of, 173–176; malicious, 176; vs. mistakes, 171; vs. narrative fiction, 179–181; secrets and, 238; white, 176

  Life (Cellini), 114

  Life of Pythagoras (Iamblichus), 45

  light / claritas, 104; beauty and, 31–34 (see also beauty); cosmology of, 105; God associated with, 31–32; Middle Ages and, 32, 104–105; in Paradiso, 33

  Lincoln, Abraham, 253–254

  Lincoln, Henry, 259, 260–261

  linguistic holism, 87–88

  Linguistics of Lying, The (Weinrich), 183

  lithium, 76–77

  loan words, 5

 

‹ Prev