What Can Economists Learn from Umberto Eco?

Authors: Belabes A*

DOI: 10.23880/phij-16000241

Volume 5, Issue 2

Abstract

Economists have much to learn from Umberto Eco, a philosopher by training, a semiologist by conviction, because semiology constitutes for him the modern form of philosophy. The most important thing in my opinion is his conception of language as an original, ingenious way of looking at things, of expressing them, including through humor and irony, which expresses a form of life, an art of exist, a search for meaning at a time when it is becoming more and more difficult to find meaning under the reign of money. In the end, Eco gives the impression of playing with language to neutralize it in one way or another. When you start paying attention to words, things don’t seem so certain anymore. This explains his fascination with lies, because the strength of language, according to him, is not to be able to say what is, but what is not.

Keywords: Language; Economics; Knowledge interaction; Umberto eco

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