Objectivity and visual practices in science and art

Chiara Ambrosio

pp. 353-368

in: Dennis Dieks, Stephan Hartmann, Thomas Uebel, Marcel Weber, Maria C. Galavotti (eds), New directions in the philosophy of science, Berlin, Springer, 2014

Abstract

Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison's Objectivity offers new opportunities to reconcile philosophical and historical accounts of visual practices in science. A key argument in their work is that the concept of objectivity – once considered as the privileged and almost exclusive domain of philosophical investigation – has a history, which deserves careful consideration by philosophers and historians alike.I build on Daston and Galison's narrative and extend it to the complex relationship between scientists and visual artists. I claim that artists participated in the history of objectivity by offering powerful challenges to the modes and methods of visualization and representation pursued by scientists at crucial times in the history of science. Through a selection of case studies ranging from eighteenth century anatomy, nineteenth and twentieth century photography and contemporary artist in residence programmes, I explore the extent and impact of the conversations and controversies between artists and scientists around "accurate representation", and their epistemological import on what constitutes scientific objectivity.

Cited authors

Daston Lorraine

Galison Peter