Topics in the History of Photography: Photography and Philosophy

Throughout its history, the photograph has posed a special problem—and special opportunity—for thinkers. As a technology, an artform, and a ubiquitous aspect of modern culture, photography has also been an object of theoretical speculation; as a form of pictorial representation perceived to stand in unique relation to "truth" and "reality," the photograph has invited the attention of philosophers. This graduate seminar will survey the ways philosophy and critical theory have handled photography, from its origins in Enlightenment thought to the most recent speculations about its essence. Enrollment limited to 20.