Eco’s Semiotics and Medieval Philosophy

After a review of the references to Medieval philosophy in Eco’s theoretical (pre-semiotic) works, the article focuses on the relationships between Eco's semiotics and medieval philosophy (in general, and medieval philosophy of language and semiotics, in particular). As will be shown, the interest of this review lies not only on the (few) points of doctrine which have been, directly or indirectly, derived from medieval philosophy, but also in some semiotic theories, which, autonomously worked out by Eco, display a striking similarity with some medieval theories, nothwithstanding the radical difference of the general theoretical framework in which they are rooted. It concludes with some reflections on the usefulness/uselessness of the history of semiotics.