ldquo;The longer you work; the more the mystery deepens of what appearance is; or how what is called appearance can be made in another medium."mdash;Francis Bacon; painter This; in a nutshell; is the central problem in the theory of art. It has fascinated philosophers from Plato to Wittgenstein. And it fascinates artists and art historians; who have always drawn extensively on philosophical ideas about language and representation; and on ideas about vision and the visible world that have deep philosophical roots.John Hymanrsquo;s The Objective Eye is a radical treatment of this problem; deeply informed by the history of philosophy and science; but entirely fresh. The questions tackled here are fundamental ones: Is our experience of color an illusion? How does the metaphysical status of colors differ from that of shapes? What is the difference between a picture and a written text? Why are some pictures said to be more realistic than others? Is it because they are especially truthful or; on the contrary; because they deceive the eye? The Objective Eye explores the fundamental concepts we use constantly in our most innocent thoughts and conversations about art; as well as in the most sophisticated art theory. The book progresses from pure philosophy to applied philosophy and ranges from the metaphysics of color to Renaissance perspective; from anatomy in ancient Greece to impressionism in nineteenth-century France. Philosophers; art historians; and students of the arts will find The Objective Eye challenging and absorbing.
#207167 in eBooks 2011-01-01 2011-01-01File Name: B004CFBLAW
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A very personal. enjoyable account of Tals remarkable 1960 world championshipBy CustomerThough the annotations and variations are detailed and full of chess insights. in the end it is the chatty tone and charming frankness of Mikhail Tal that sets this book apart. Yes. you can read it and learn chess. or you can just enjoy the story.Some of the games are themselves spectacular and suggest fun opening lines that are not always seen. For example. game 1 in the "solid" French features Black sacrificing his kingside pawns to a rampaging queen in return for an opposite side attack. These Qg4 lines you will at least commonly see in books on the French. but Tals ideas against the equally solid Caro (Ne2. Nf4 and sacrifice on e6) are not as well remembered and lead to some wild. wide-open play that is easily emulated by amateurs.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Its like playing beside Tal 57 years after the championshipBy CustomerSplendid book. Its like playing beside Tal 57 years after the championship.You learn a lot about strategic and tactical considerations and its easy tu read.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A plus for Tal. A minus for Kindle editionBy Good BookThere is really nothing much to say about this book that has not been said before. This is simply one of the best books on the game along with Life and Games of Mikhail Tal. Go for it. the print edition that is. I understand it has an additional 23 games between Tal and Botvinnik (unannotated) covering the return match and subsequent encounters. This portion seems to have been omitted in the Kindle version.
