The concept of “image”
The Concept of “Image”
An image is simply defined as a visual representation of something meaning to reproduce its likeness (Marriam-Webster, 2020). This can be photographic material, pictures, paintings, and even human memory and imagination. I will seek to explore “the image” in its many forms from a range of perspectives and the role it continues to play in human anthropological and philosophical history. Among the types of visual images that potentially reflect the truth, a photograph inevitably stands out, which, regardless of technical intervention and manipulation, has the categorical sign of a fact. There are several philosophical connections between photography and reality that transform throughout time, presenting a list of unresolved ethical issues, the main of which remains to be the lack of freedom in its broadest understanding.
The Image
The art philosopher Hans Belting suggests that the anthropology of the image stems from the body. It is a living medium that it can think, create, remember, and recognize images with all its senses. The body itself represents images, turning into them, and then generating the physical exemplifications of said images. Belting indicates that there are mental images and there are physical images. Art and media are just representations of images, that are cyclical in duration. Belting indicates in his theory that there is potential coordination between mind, body, image, and its finally medium. The relationship is in a constant state of change, as technology or imagination comes into place.
Representation is offered by the image through the human existence. The suggestion is that the image goes beyond being a product of perception, but as a result of personal and collective symbolization. However, the images need to be physical (regardless of medium) to be seen.
An image, in philosophy, is defined as a representation of reality that is constructed in the mind. This can be done in various ways, but most commonly it is done through language, art, or any other form of communication. The implication that images have to philosophy is that they provide a way for us to understand and represent the world around us.
