Images of Thought

Jorge J. E. Gracia

Description

Is philosophy hopelessly opposed to art? Images of Thought answers negatively, claiming that visual images can be used effectively to grasp complex thoughts, and philosophy can be deployed to deepen our understanding of art. Jorge J. E. Gracia provides philosophical interpretations of seventeen works by the Cuban American artist Carlos Estévez that engage such topics as self-knowledge, the nature of the universe, faith and reason, permanence and change, the self and the other, women and men, freedom and determinism, providence, and predestination. The study's novelty lies both in its use of the interpretation of art to understand traditional philosophical problems and the theory it proposes concerning the nature of interpretation. The clarity of the discussion and an engaging style make it accessible to a wider audience.
List of Illustrations

Preface

1. Art and Philosophy

2. Carlos Estévez and His Art

Part 1: Philosophical Interpretations of Estévez’s Works Knowledge

3. Know Thyself

4. I Am Myself and My Circumstances

5. Everything We Know Is Numbers

6. No Man Knows the Whole Truth

7. Faith Seeks Understanding Reality

8. You Cannot Step into the Same River Twice

9. No Part of the Whole Is Empty

10. There Is No New Thing under the Sun

11. The Living Creature Is a World Order in Miniature Society

12. Negotiating Identities

13. What Then Is a Race?

14. Imagined Communities

15. I-Thou

16. Male and Female Destiny

17. The Will Does Not Desire of Necessity

18. The Very Hairs of Your Head Are All Numbered

19. God Has Predestined His Elect

Part 2: Philosophical Interpretations and Art

20. Interpretation

21. Art

22. Philosophical Interpretations of Art

Appendices
Appendix 1 Interview with Carlos Estévez
Appendix 2 Carlos Estévez’s Biographical Chronology
Appendix 3 Carlos Estévez’s Images of Thought, Exhibition Checklist

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Latin American
• Película fotográfica
• Philosophy
• Visual culture
• Latin America
• Caribbean
• Film

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 30 mars 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791493854
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 33 Mo

Extrait

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Images of Thought

SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture

Jorge J. E. Gracia and Rosemary Geisdorfer Feal, editors

Images of Thought Philosophical Interpretations of Carlos Estévez’s Art

JORGE J. E. GRACIA

Cover art: Carlos Estévez,Self-fishing, 2006, courtesy of Jorge and Norma Gracia

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2009 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production by Eileen Meehan Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Gracia, Jorge J. E.  Images of thought : philosophical interpretations of Carlos Estévez’s art / Jorge J. E. Gracia.  p. cm. — (SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian thought and culture)  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 978-0-7914-9379-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)  ISBN 978-0-7914-9380-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)  1. Estévez, Carlos, 1969—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.

N6605.E88G73 2009 709.2—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2008028300

Las Meninasis the visible image of Velásquez’s invisible thought.

—René Magritte

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List of Illustrations Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Contents

Art and Philosophy

Carlos Estévez and His Art

Part 1: Philosophical Interpretations of Estévez’s Works

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Know Thyself

Knowledge

I Am Myself and My Circumstances

Everything We Know Is Numbers

No Man Knows the Whole Truth

Faith Seeks Understanding

Reality

You Cannot Step into the Same River Twice

No Part of the Whole Is Empty

Chapter 10 There Is No New Thing under the Sun

Chapter 11 The Living Creature Is a World Order in Miniature

ix xi

1

11

2

1

29

37

4

5

5

1

63

7

7

1

7

83

viii

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Contents

Society

Negotiating Identities

What Then Is a Race?

Imagined Communities

I-Thou

Male and Female

Destiny

 The Will Does Not Desire of Necessity

The Very Hairs of Your Head Are All Numbered

God Has Predestined His Elect

Part 2: Philosophical Interpretations and Art

Interpretation

Art

Philosophical Interpretations of Art

Appendices

Appendix 1 Interview with Carlos Estévez

Appendix 2 Carlos Estévez’s Biographical Chronology

Appendix 3

Carlos Estévez’s Images of Thought, Exhibition Checklist

Notes Bibliography Index

91

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9

107

115

125

133

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155

177

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235 243 255