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Self‐Images and “Perspicuous Representations”: Reflection, Philosophy, and the Glass Mirror
Author(s) -
Mudde Anna
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
metaphilosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1467-9973
pISSN - 0026-1068
DOI - 10.1111/meta.12153
Subject(s) - epistemology , reflection (computer programming) , metaphor , ambiguity , philosophy , reading (process) , sociology , aesthetics , linguistics , computer science , programming language
Reflection names the central activity of W estern philosophical practice; the mirror and its attendant metaphors of reflection are omnipresent in the self‐image(s) of W estern philosophy and in metaphilosophical reflection on reflection. But the physical experiences of being reflected by glass mirrors have been inadequately theorized contributors to those metaphors, and this has implications not only for the self‐image and the self (or selves) of philosophy but also for metaphilosophical practice. This article begins to rethink the metaphor of reflection anew. Paying attention to the history of the glass mirror in Europe reveals and challenges the modern emergence of clear ontological distinctions between disembodied subjects and the objects of their knowledge, and suggests a compelling terrain of metaphilosophical analysis. On the reading offered by the article, the inherent complexity of the relationship between selves and their mirror images, a complexity mediated by social location, historical situation, and particular projects, points to significant spaces of unknowing, of indeterminacy, and of ontological ambiguity.