It seems that an inquiry into the specific ways in which pictures represent is needed in order to achieve the kind of conceptual precision that is not a constant feature of philosophical investigation on painting as an artform. In this regard, recent research carried out in analytical aesthetics has proved very fruitful.
The essays collected in this volume belong to or are inspired by the analytical debate on pictures. Originally, they were presented at a workshop on pictorial representation organized by the department of philosophy of the university of padua on september 23rd and 24th 2009. The authors are scholars of aesthetics and philosophers who have recently engaged with such concerns. Some of them address central issues of the debate, such as the alternative between an approach focussed on the definition of features that characterize the experience of images and an approach focused on the explanation of the phenomenon of pictorial representation in terms of objective resemblance between the image and what it represents. Other authors examine issues that have so far remained somehow marginal to the debate and that might lead to interesting developments. For instance, on which grounds can we claim or deny that abstract images represent? What is the meaning that deictic expressions can have in relation to a painting?
This volume, edited by Gabriele Tomasi (gabriele.tomasi@unipd.it), is one of the first publications in italian to be exclusively devoted to recent contributions on the topic of pictorial representation, and it will appeal to the curiosity of those who wish to keep up with this ongoing debate.