Philosophy of Picture

If it is true that a painting can ¿think visually¿, then it is also true that Diderot was the first to say so - and he has spelled out this concept better than anyone else. Diderot¿s Salons show that the ¿imaginal¿ sense that arises from the engagement with a picture needs to be investigated using the concepts of ¿hrasis and theatricality - the capacity to explore the power of pictures in relation to the composition of the scene, to the expressive and pantomimic gestures, and to what can be called a ¿theory of affections¿.

The book will focus on an issue that pertains to the theory of pictures, on a question that is ground-breaking in the English-speaking academic context: how can we look at a picture in order to rethink aesthetics as a discipline that allows us to look at pictures from a philosophical point of view?

The Salons demonstrate that the ¿imaginal¿ process leading to knowledge always emerges from the picture itself, and that this process always needs to be sup