Incomprehensible Certainty: Metaphysics and Hermeneutics of the Image

Thomas Pfaus' study of images and visual experience explores the relationship between Platonic metaphysics and modern phenomenology, positioning the image as a medium that reveals the metaphysical function of an invisible, numinous reality. It offers interpretations of visual experience from Plato to Rilke and affirms the complementarity of image and word, visual intuition, and hermeneutic practice in theology, philosophy, and literature.

Format: Hardback
Length: 812 pages
Publication date: 08 June 2022
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press

Incomprehensible Certainty, a profound exploration by Thomas Pfau, delves into the intricate relationship between images and visual experience, seamlessly bridging the realms of Platonic metaphysics and modern phenomenology. Through his meticulous study, Pfau unveils the profound significance of the "image" as the fundamental medium of art and literature, serving as the cornerstone for our intuitive connections with the "lifeworld." Drawing upon a rich tapestry of sources, ranging from Plato's later dialogues to contemporary writers and artists, Pfau presents a series of interconnected arguments. Firstly, he demonstrates how being and appearance, once considered opposing forces, have been reconceived as ontologically distinct yet interconnected entities. Secondly, he highlights the image as a medium that possesses an inherent abundance and excess, revealing its metaphysical role as the visible manifestation of an invisible, numinous reality. Thirdly, Pfau's interpretations, spanning a vast historical spectrum from Plato to Rilke, underscore the essential complementarity of image and word, visual intuition and hermeneutic practice, in the domains of theology, philosophy, and literature. This book, akin to Pfau's previous masterpiece, Minding the Modern, is a monumental achievement. With over fifty illustrations, it captivates students and scholars alike, spanning the fields of philosophy, theology, literature, and art history. Incomprehensible Certainty invites us to contemplate the profound mysteries of the visual world and the ways in which it shapes our understanding of the world around us.

Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780268202484