Five Moral Pieces

The standout piece in this collection is Eco's excellent essay Ur-Fascism, which draws from both his intellectual background and his childhood experiences in WW2 Italy to define fascism. This essay is accessible and engaging, probably because it was written to be presented in English to American college students. The other essays are much harder to follow, relying on the forms and founding texts of philosophical argument. Most of the other essays also have very specific context—such as the trial of a war criminal or the state of Italian newspapers. I often struggled to grasp Eco's point outside that context, and even when it's possible it's arguable whether it's applicable more broadly. But as is always the case when I read Eco, I wonder if I am just not smart enough to get it.