Hans Maes - Portraits and Philosophy

This book seems certain to establish the philosophy of portraiture as a new and important topic of debate within philosophy and to demonstrate the centrality of philosophical aesthetics to the issues of self, identity and our understanding of each other, that concern us all.

Ian Ground, University of Hertfordshire, UK

This is an excellent book on the elusive but pervasive genre of portraiture. It provides the reader with conceptual tools to understand the boundaries of the genre, the value of portraits and some ethical issues they give rise to. Also, it invites the reader to consider interesting questions such as whether there can be portraits of absent sitters, how to understand sport cards portraits or fictional portraits appearing in literary works.

Paloma Atencia-Linares, National Autonomous University of Mexico

Portraits are everywhere. One finds them not only in museums and galleries, but also in newspapers and magazines, in the homes of people and in the boardrooms of companies, on stamps and coins, on millions of cell phones and computers. Despite its huge popularity, however, portraiture hasnt received much philosophical attention. While there are countless art historical studies of portraiture, contemporary philosophy has largely remained silent on the subject. This book aims to address that lacuna. It brings together philosophers (and philosophically minded historians) with different areas of expertise to discuss this enduring and continuously fascinating genre.

The chapters in this collection are ranged under five broad themes. explores the relation between portraiture, fiction, and depiction more generally. Finally, in Part V, some of the ethical issues surrounding portraiture are addressed. The book closes with an epilogue about portraits of philosophers.

Portraits and Philosophy tangles with deep questions about the nature and effects of portraiture in ways that will substantially advance the scholarly discussion of the genre. It will be of interest to scholars and students working in philosophy of art, history of art, and the visual arts.

Hans Maes is Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Art at the University of Kent. He is the author of Conversations on Art and Aesthetics (2017) and editor of the essay collections Art and Pornography (2012) and Pornographic Art and the Aesthetics of Pornography (2013).

The Pleasure of Pictures
Pictorial Experience and Aesthetic Appreciation

Edited by Jrme Pelletier and Alberto Voltolini

Thinking with Images
An Enactivist Aesthetics

John M Carvalho

A Film-Philosophy of Ecology and Enlightment

Rupert Read

Fictive Narrative Philosophy
How Fiction Can Act as Philosophy

Michael Boylan

A Philosophy of the Art School

Michael Newall

The Aesthetics of Self-Becoming
How Art Forms Empower

Paul Crowther

Philosophy and Film
Bridging Divides

Edited by Christina Rawls, Diana Neiva, and Steven S. Gouveia

Paintings and the Past
Philosophy, History, Art

Ivan Gaskell

Portraits and Philosophy

Edited by Hans Maes

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Research-in-Aesthetics/book-series/RRA

Edited by Hans Maes

First published 2020
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2020 Taylor & Francis

The right of Hans Maes to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN: 978-0-367-18940-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-19937-0 (ebk)

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