Etica delle immagini, spectatorship e la questione ingenua dell'oggettività della rappresentazione

The objectivity of photographic representation is sometimes declared art- less because it springs from a process which makes use of a simplified notion of representation and similarity. However, this kind of objectivity cannot be lightheartedly abandoned, because we will not have the conceptual tools to interpret some important kinds of images. Evaluating the degree of conformity with the true by a representation is one of the tasks of the ethics of image. It is a discipline which falls within moral philosophy, despite the fact its reference area has been mysteriously declared the exclusive preserve of aesthetics, by a prejudice that would deny the moral philosopher the right to exercise his specialty. In taking charge of the role of the spectator, the ethics of images redis- covers: a) the role of efficacy in the communication process; b) similarities between knowing moral and hermeneutic knowledge; c) the irrevocability of the role of objectivity.