Images: A Reader

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~o ~or­ ----f th(scien~ fic experimenter dem9 ~s tr~t i ng how ob jediW know ledge could be po ssib le ~nd I ~-g j ti .mate in irw od d where God still provided ult~mate autho rity.E:pist~ mq legi:a ltth esry~helps.Ta~e the socia l enterprise of science seem as natural as 10o ~l l)g at a 'R ,ece'of'w.i~x . Without know ledge of th e reach and rLchn~s S" ()ih61 s ;tra d itlo'n,"'o ur"uride r" im pov~r i s hed . stan ding of images is greatly -;... ..,... 0

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REFERENCES

870\1'0, P. (1982) 'A Dark A ge crisis: aspects 'pf the ' i~90~ lasti c coo,trove rsy', in P. :BrqY"tl {ed .I, .Societv-e nd the Holy £n Late An tiqu ity. London:. Faber & Faber. pp: } 5f c£'301 .

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Darnasio,,", A.R. (1994 ) Descertes' Sirrot : Emotion,' Reason and 'the ~H[Jm irn iJ'Bra in _

New York: G.P.' Putna1n's Sons. .. . . " OS

Denn e~ , D. C. (1991) Con scious ness Explained. Bosto n, MA: Li ttle/ Brow n &' Co,

¢1rg n~r/ H.) 1 9§ 7) The Mirl'd 's New Science: A"History 'Ofthr:JC§gnitlve 'Re iioTution.

N I' L t I I'cnguIU Ch"ics 19 55 ~- 1 ~ l;P"';" .b..c !.i.J..U:l..-~;l::"'~'7::._::~,, ;, .. ~c o:::~ ;jO~ ;~~ " -, .

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FROM GENES IS TO LOC KE : 3 1

30: IMAGES

'No.'

'Yes, that is so.'

'I wonder what vou would call a man who could make all the obj ects produced by indi~idual craftsm en ?'

'So painter, carpenter, and God are each responsible for one kind orbed.'

'H e would be a remarkably clever man.' 'Just a minute , and you ' ll be more sur pr ised still. For this same craftsm an can not only make all artificial objects, but also create all plants and animals, himself included , and, in addition , earth and sky and gods , the heavenl y bodies and the underworld .' 'An astonishing bit of craftsmanship!' he exclaimed. 'You don't believe me?' I asked. 'Tell me do vou think that a craftsman of this sort couldn't exist, or (in one sense, ifn~t in'another) cre ate all these things? Do you know that there's a sense in which you could cre ate th em yourself?' 'What sense? ' 'It 's no t di fficult, and can b e done in various ·ways qui te quickly, Th e quickest way is t o take a mirror and turn it round in all dir ection s; before long you will creat e SWl and stars and earth, yourself and all other animal s and plants , and all the other obj ects we mentioned just now.'

'Yes.' 'God creat ed only one essential Form of Bed in the ultimate nature of thing s, either because he wanted to or because some necessity prevented him from maki ng more than on e; at any rate he d idn 't produce more than one , and more than on e could not possibly be pr oduced .'

'Why?' 'Because, suppose he created two onl y, you would find th at they both shared a comm on charac ter or for m, and this common character wo uld be th e ultimate reality.' 'That's true.'

'And [ suppose that God knew it, and as he wanted to be th e real creator of a real Bed, and not ju st a carpenter making a particular bed, decided to make the ultimate reality unique.' '1 suppose so.'

' Yes, but they, would only be reflections,' he said , ' not real things.'_ J

'Th en do vou think we might call him author of th e nature of thin bus or some , such name?'

' Q uite right,' 1 replied , 'and very much to th e point . For a painter is a craftsman of just thi s kind, I think. Do you agree? '

'\Ve could do so with ju stice; for all his creations are ultimate realities.'

'Yes.'

'And wh at abo ut the carpenter? Do esn 't he manufacture the bed? ' 'Yes.'

'You may perhaps object that the things he cre at es are not real; and yet there is a sense in which the painter creates a bed, isn't there ?' 'Yes,' he agre ed, 'he produces an appearance of on e .' 'And what about the carpenter? Didn't you agr ee that what he produces is not th e essential Form of Bed, the ultimate reality, but a particular bed?' 'I did .' 'If so, then w hat he makes is not the ultimat e realit y but so me th ing that resembles that reality. And anyone who says th at th e products of the car pe nte r or any other craftsman ar e ultimate r ealiti es can hardl y be telling the truth , can he?'

'No one familiar with the sor t of argumen ts we're using could suppose so.'

'And wh at about th e ar tist? Does he make or manufacture?'

'No.' 'Then what does he do?' ' I think that we may fairly say that he represents what the other two make.'

' Good ,' said 1. 'Then the artist's representation sta nds at thi rd remove from reality ?'

r· ..J 'Th e ar tist's representation is .. . a long way removed from truth, and he is able to reproduce everythi ng because he ne ver pen etrates ben eath the superficial appea ra nce of anythi ng.' [... J

'So we shan 't be sur pr ised jf the bed the carpe nte r m akes lacks the precision of re alitv7' , 'N o.'

THE ORIGINS OF IMITATION

'Then shall we try to define representation now, in the light of this

ARISTOTLE

ill u stration?' ' Yes, please .' ' W e have seen that there are three sor ts of bed .The first ex ists in the ultimate n ature of th ings , and if it w as made by any o ne it m ust , I s~pp ose , have b ee n 1•• 1...,. r: .. 'U'J p-r h .... ~""'''''H nrl i ~ TTlo ~ c1 6'"l h v -th.... r~rrtP nte. r_ the third bv the h::. int-oPpo ' "10..

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[..·1 The instinct

fo r imitati on is inherent in man fr o m hi ,

earlie~t da~cs; he

elil}"cI"s from other ani m als in that he is the mo st imitative of creatu r r: ~, and t\risto t ll:, 'T he: or ig ms and devel opment of po et r y' t from On th e-itrl '?f Poet ry. in Clo.ukaJ LUt td T)' Cfll iorm, I nnril .n . p ,pftal li n JLv.L-.. 1(,1;; t;" n vs. COD)' Ti ~..tll iO.T,S. 1Jor:w:h 1 96 ~ .

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32 : I M AGES

he learns his earliest lessons by imitation. Also inborn in all of us is th e instinct to enjoy wo rks of imitati on . What happ ens in actual ex perience is evidence of this ; for we enjoy looking at th e most accura te representation s of things wh ich in th em selves we find painful to see, suc h as the for ms of th e lowes t animals and of corpses . Th e reason for this is that learning is a very great pleasur e, not for philosophers only, but for other people as well, however limited their capacity for it may be . Th ey enjoy see ing liken esses because in doing so they acquire information (they reaso n out wh at each re presen ts, and discover. for instance , th at ' this is a pictu re of so and so'); for if by an)' ch ance th e thing depicted has not been seen before, it will not be th e fact that it is an imitat ion of something that gives the pleasur e, bu t th e exec ution or th e colour ing or some other suc h cause . Th e instinct for imit ation , t hen, is natural to us , as is also a fe eling fo r music and for rhythm - and metres are obviously detached sections of rhythms. Starting from these natural aptitudes, and by a ser ies of for th e mo st par t gradual imp rovem ents on their first efforts , men even tually crea te d poetry from th eir improvisations .

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F R OM GE N ES IS TO LOC KE : -3 3

-..JOH N OF DAMASCUS When we set up an image of Chris t in any place, we appea l to the senses, and

indeed we sanctify the sense of sight, which is the highest amo ng the perceptive

senses, just as hy sacred speech we sanctify the sense of healing. An image is,

after all, a reminder ; it is to the illiterate what a book is to the literate, and what

the word is to the hearin g, th e image is to Sight. All this is the approach through

the senses: but it is with the mind that we lay hold on th e image. 'I'Ve remember

that God ordered that a vessel be mad e from wood that would not rot, guilded

inside and out, and that the tables of the law should be placed in it and the staff

and the golden vessel containing the manna - all this for a reminder of what

had taken place, and a foreshadowi ng of what was to come. What 'was this but

a visual image, more co mpe lling than any ser mon? And this sacred thing was

not placed in some obscure corner of the taberna cle; it was displayed in full

view of the people, so that whenever they looked at it they would give honour

and worship to the God who had thl·ough its contents made known his design

to them. The)' were of course not worshipping the things them selves; they were

being led through them to reca ll the won derful works of God , and to adore him

whose word s they had witnessed.

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THINKING WITH IMAGES ARISTOTLE

Perce iving ... is analog ous to me r e saying and th ink ing , but when it is of the pleasant or pai nful the soul engages in pursuit or avoida nce and these are analogous to asser tion and denial. In fact , to ex perience pleasure and pain is to be active with th e perceptive mea n in rel ation to goo d or bad as such. Avoidance , wha t is marc , and d esire are, in their actualized state , the same thing, nor are th eir faculties different eithe r from each othe r Or from the perceptive faculty, but th eir way o f b eing the same tIling is differen t. For in th e thinking soul, im ages p lay the part of percepts, and the asser tio n or negati on of goo d or bad is invaria bly acco mpanied by avoidance or pursuit , whic h is the r eason for the soul's neve r thinkin g withou t an image. !

NOTE 1. It is interesting that the wor d translated here as 'image' IS not phatitasma but aisthema , a rare word only used once elsewhere in the De AnIma . As Hamlyn suggests, its use there seems to remind us of the d ose d ependence that Aristotle sees ill the intellectual soul on the sensitive soul immediately below it in the hierarchy. [... j Art srotlc , C hapter Hf.7 , D c/l n:mGl On the- jo ul , tr H ugh Laws on-Tan crcd . Lnnclt)T'! : PengUin Cla:\,''i-ics , 1986 , PI" 20 &anel 24 8 . Cop~' r1gh (:j;; Hu gh Law, on-Tancr cd 19&6 .

HOROS AT NICAEA, 787

AD

We define with all acc uracv and care th at the venerable and bolv icons be set up like th e form of the ve~erable and life-giVing Cross , in a sm~ch as matter consisting of co lours and pebbles and other matter is appropr iate in th e holy Church of God , o n sacre d vessels and vestments , walls and panels, in hou ses and on the roads, as we ll as th e images of our Lord and Gael and Saviour Jesus Chri st, of our undefi led Lady of th e Holy Mother of God , of the ange ls ,:"or thy of honour, and of all the holy and piou s m en. For th e more frequently th ey are see n by means of pict orial representation the more th ose who behold them are aro use d to rem emb er and de sire th e protot)1)CS and to give them greeting and wo rship of hono ur - but no t th e true worship of Our faith which befits only th e divin e nature - but to offer th em both i ~.c cnse and candles, in the sam e way as to U1e for m and the venerable and hfe-giVing Cross and t he holy Gospel b ooks and to the other sacred objects, as Was the custom even of th e ancients .

U l nnl ng;h~lt~ ~ ;

!:r Ofl1 !c()nGclmm , erls An thon v Bryer and Judah He r-rm. I ~7; . pp 1~ 3--4 . Reprod uced w ith p...·I·mi ~S I (>n o f t ht: c:d ll(JfS .

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