Images of Thought: Philosophical Interpretations of Carlos Estevez's Art(SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture)

Explores the relationship between philosophy and art through the work of Cuban American artist Carlos Estévez. 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.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Preface 1. Art and Philosophy 2. Carlos Estevez and His Art Part 1: Philosophical Interpretations of Estevez'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 Estevez Appendix 2 Carlos Estevez's Biographical Chronology Appendix 3 Carlos Estevez's Images of Thought, Exhibition Checklist Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Jorge J. E. Gracia is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Chair in Philosophy at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. He is the author of several books, including Metaphysics and Its Task: The Search for the Categorial Foundation of Knowledge, and the coeditor (with Lynette M. F. Bosch and Isabel Alvarez Borland) of Identity, Memory, and Diaspora: Voices of Cuban-American Artists, Writers, and Philosophers, both also published by SUNY Press.

Review :
"This is a fine contribution to the analysis of a major Cuban and Latin American artist, and it is perhaps the first of its kind. While it is focused on a particular painter, the book manages to help lay the foundations for a philosophical analysis of art in general. It is a useful addition to a growing literature of philosophical works on aesthetics." - Eduardo Mendieta, author of Global Fragments: Globalizations, Latinamericanisms, and Critical Theory "Gracia has managed to fit discussion of important philosophical themes very well with the exploration of the artwork, which is fascinating and deserves attention." - Charles Burroughs, Case Western Reserve University