Oliver R

Oliver R. Scholz

"Image" - Reflections on a Contested Concept

Part I: Concepts

Image1: pictorial representations

(Greek: eikon; Latin: imago; icon(a); English: picture; depiction)

Examples: paintings, drawings, etchings etc.; photographs etc.

Image2: natural images

(Greek: physei eikones)

Examples: shadows; mirror images (Greek: eidola); imprints

Image3: "image" in a metaphysical (and/ or typological) sense (involving a certain dependency relation)

(Greek: paradeigma; Latin: paradigma, archetypus, exemplar; German: Urbild - Abbild)

Examples: Platonic Ideas - sensible things; God - His Son Jesus Christ; God - man; father - son.

Image4: "image" in a psychological sense (Greek: phantasmata, eidola; Latin: simulacra; English: mental imagery)

Examples: sensory images; memory images; images of phantasy; dream images

Image5: "image"/ "imagery" in a rhetorical and/ or poetological sense

(Greek: eikon; German: Bild / Bildlichkeit)

Examples: similes; comparisons; (later also: metaphors)

Image6: "image" in a normative sense

(Greek: paradeigma; Latin: exemplum; imago; German: Vorbild, Musterbild)

Examples: "Cato ..., virtutum viva imago"

Painting1: the art of making images1 (or more precisely: the art of making certain cases of images1)

(Greek: zoographia; Latin: pictura; Italian: pittura; German: Malerei, Malkunst)

Painting2: a (more or less finished) product of painting1, i.e., certain cases of images1

(Greek: zoographia, eikon; Latin: pictura, imago; Italian: pittura; German: Gemälde)

Part II: Theses

(1) Images have been contested objects.

(2) The concept of an image has been a contested concept.

(3) The historical facts adumbrated by theses (1) and (2) are contingent and, at least, prima facie rather unexpected features of human culture that call for explanations.

For more elaborate statements see:

Scholz, Oliver R., 1991, Bild, Darstellung, Zeichen. Philosophische Theorien bildhafter Darstellung, Freiburg/ Mϋnchen: Alber.

idem, 1993, When Is a Picture? In: Synthese, 95, pp. 95-106.

idem, 2000, A Solid Sense of Syntax. In: Erkenntnis 52, pp. 199-212.

idem, 2000, Bild. In: Barck, K. et al. (eds.), 2000, Ästhetische Grundbegriffe, Vol. 1, Stuttgart: Metzler, pp. 618-669.

	Oliver R. Scholz "Image" - Reflections on a Contested Concept Part I: Concepts Image1: pictorial representations (Greek: eikon; Latin: imago; icon(a); English: picture; depiction) Examples: paintings, drawings, etchings etc.; photographs etc. Image2: natural images (Greek: physei eikones) Examples: shadows; mirror images (Greek: eidola); imprints Image3: "image" in a metaphysical (and/ or typological) sense (involving a certain dependency relation) (Greek: paradeigma; Latin: paradigma, archetypus, exemplar; German: Urbild - Abbild) Examples: Platonic Ideas - sensible things; God - His Son Jesus Christ; God - man; father - son. Image4: "image" in a psychological sense (Greek: phantasmata, eidola; Latin: simulacra; English: mental imagery) Examples: sensory images; memory images; images of phantasy; dream images Image5: "image"/ "imagery" in a rhetorical and/ or poetological sense (Greek: eikon; German: Bild / Bildlichkeit) Examples: similes; comparisons; (later also: metaphors) Image6: "image" in a normative sense (Greek: paradeigma; Latin: exemplum; imago; German: Vorbild, Musterbild) Examples: "Cato ..., virtutum viva imago" Painting1: the art of making images1 (or more precisely: the art of making certain cases of images1) (Greek: zoographia; Latin: pictura; Italian: pittura; German: Malerei, Malkunst) Painting2: a (more or less finished) product of painting1, i.e., certain cases of images1 (Greek: zoographia, eikon; Latin: pictura, imago; Italian: pittura; German: Gemälde) Part II: Theses (1) Images have been contested objects. (2) The concept of an image has been a contested concept. (3) The historical facts adumbrated by theses (1) and (2) are contingent and, at least, prima facie rather unexpected features of human culture that call for explanations. For more elaborate statements see: Scholz, Oliver R., 1991, Bild, Darstellung, Zeichen. Philosophische Theorien bildhafter Darstellung, Freiburg/ Mϋnchen: Alber. idem, 1993, When Is a Picture? In: Synthese, 95, pp. 95-106. idem, 2000, A Solid Sense of Syntax. In: Erkenntnis 52, pp. 199-212. idem, 2000, Bild. In: Barck, K. et al. (eds.), 2000, Ästhetische Grundbegriffe, Vol. 1, Stuttgart: Metzler, pp. 618-669.