The frame of this selection from the studies of sixteen distinguished authors gives the work of Nelson Goodman, still being in the centre of the theoretical reflections related to pictures. The motivation for the republication of this three-volumened book is the actuality of the themes and the fact, that the writings selected in 1982 have not aged since then.
The first volume contains Gombrich’s brilliant and exemplary overview on the picture. For the first time, he proposes in this study, that the basic problem of the picture-theory is the representation as specific act. The second part is dominated by two chapters of Goodman’s classic book The languages of art, connected with the writings of Bennett, Carrier, Elgin and Walton, while the third part introduces the reader to some problems of conceptual analysis.
The selection – through the translation of classic writings – reflects the language philosophy, the psychology of development, the cognitive sciences and the basic problems of communication research, as such, an interesting reading both for the specialist and the students.