Iconoclasm: Past and Present
New School for Social Research: Philosophy
CRN: 18405
Never before has the world been so full of images—both manually and mechanically produced and distributed. The consequences of this remain as under-theorized as the reasons for this state of affairs. One question for debate is whether recording technologies, from photography to AI, represent the world, or double it. Our seminar will think about this contemporary horizon from the point of view of iconoclasm—not just in terms of explicit bans on images and various forms of censorship, but also their philosophical underpinnings: namely, the view that images cannot be bearers of truth, are antithetical to human efforts at making the world intelligible, and may even be psychologically deleterious. We will include art historical perspectives alongside philosophers with things to say about the fate of image-making and iconoclasm beyond its ancient pedigree (Plato, the Bible) into the contemporary world.
College: New School for Social Research (GF)
Department: Philosophy (PHI)
Campus: New York City (GV)
Course Format: Seminar (R)
Modality: In-Person
Max Enrollment: 6
Add/Drop Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Sunday)
Online Withdrawal Deadline: September 5, 2025 (Friday)
Seats Available: Yes
Status: Open*
* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 9:52am EDT 5/9/2025