Lo Sguardo is a peer-reviewed and diamond open-access journal of Philosophy. It is indexed by:
\nLo Sguardo \;is ranked as an \;"A Class" journal \;by the Italian Agency for the Evaluation of Research and University (ANVUR)\, for the areas 11/C3 and 11/C5 (Moral Philosophy\, History of Philosophy)
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\nUmberto Eco&rsquo\;s position on the history of thought cannot be identified in the possibility of working out a definitive solution to metaphysical problems &ndash\; raised by different ontological commitments. Rather\, it consists in the very idea that patterns of thought reflect a general tendency of culture toward those processes in which &ndash\; instead of an unambiguous and necessary sequence of events &ndash\; a field of probability is established as such. An ambiguity of situation\, such as to stimulate operative or interpretative choices that are different from time to time. Hence the need to \;open up \;the scope of the sources\, in order to draw on for one&rsquo\;s research and project beyond philological historicism\; albeit with the awareness of coming by training from (and thus drawing on) a traditional and\, so to speak\, static heritage.
\nFor Umberto Eco\, the task of the intellectual who\, even if cast in his time\, stands before history\, is to record in what ways praxes produce structures\, metaphors\, models\, methodologies\, interpretive categories that have common characteristics and properties based on the general agreement. Or do not have them\, and which ones are the dominant ones\, and why.
\nAccording to a historicist reading that Eco himself\, albeit in a critical vein\, sometimes seems to adopt\, the historian should not harbor modeling ambitions from a methodological standpoint\; rather\, he should make use of the distance that separates him from the occurrence of facts to try to determine their value with respect to the socio-political and cultural structures of the era he investigates. For this to happen\, one must first of all abandon all metaphysical pretensions\, which place head to an illusory\, e.g.\, historicist and idealist unity of knowledge. Instead\, one must delve into a history of the patterns of culture that goes hand in hand with the methodology and concepts of a material history of ideas that is always variable in relation to the changing point of view of an observer who is also an interpreter. And while it is difficult to say whether one interpretation is better than another\, it is always possible to recognize untenable interpretations from a historical perspective as well.
\nHow can this lesson of Eco be enforced in the direction of open models\, including those of historical-philosophical knowing? This is the dialogue with the past of the history of thought that this issue of \;Lo Sguardo\, devoted to Eco&rsquo\;s reflection-and\, at the same time\, to Eco&rsquo\;s lesson-wants to address.
\nThe main themes in the issue will be:
\nACCEPTED LANGUAGES: ITALIAN\, ENGLISH\, FRENCH\, SPANISH
\nDEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION (COMPLETE ARTICLES): \;01/02/2026
\nProcedure: Submit the article\, complete in its entirety and edited according to the \;editorial guidelines of the journal\, through the OJS editorial platform of \;Lo Sguardo \;by selecting the appropriate call under &ldquo\;Section&rdquo\;:
\nhttps://editorial.losguardo.net/ojs/index.php/LS/about/submissions
\nSubmissions will be subjected to \;double-blind peer review. The entire submission and selection process of submissions will take place through the platform.
\nRiccardo Fedriga\, Cristina Marras
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