Testimonial Image Practices as a Politics of Aesthetics after Levinas

Bibliographic Data

ID3542536
AuthorsJohannes Bennke (0000-0002-9161-1573, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume10
Issue3
Pages216
Publication date2019-03-21
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel10030216
OpenAlexW2924218405
LanguageEN
References cited19

The transition from ethics to politics still lacks a proper understanding. I propose thinking of this transition in terms of a politics of aesthetics. However, thinking about a politics of aesthetics means also thinking about images and their prohibition. The prohibition of images has a long history, dating back to the Bible and Plato; its implications are crucial for image theory. Since Levinas did not systematically develop a political theory, aesthetics, or image theory, it is necessary to collect and systematize his distributed statements. Having image theory as a starting point for a politics of aesthetics, I choose a media philosophical approach to identify the mediality of the image after Levinas. Key elements for a Levinasian image theory are the temporal aspect of its transient appearance, its involving affective power, and its negativity. I propose to think of this image theory as an image-pragmatics that testifies and responds not only to the Other but also to the mediality of the image. With Levinas it becomes possible to turn the prohibition of images into a commandment to remember. I call this a testimonial image practice that becomes a regulatory idea for a politics of aesthetics

Aesthetics · Epistemology · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Pragmatics · Sociology · Testimonial · Computer Science · Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Visual Culture and Art Theory · Artificial Intelligence

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