Part of the SPAH Seminar Series, Dr Fiona Hughes will be discussing the significance of the use of relief for the structure of intentions in late Palaeolithic cave art
Dr Fiona Hughes is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Philosophy and Art History at the University of Essex. Please click here for more details.
The seminar is on the significance of the use of relief for the structure of intentions in late Palaeolithic cave art. Artworks at Lascaux and other late Palaeolithic caves integrate geological features or ‘relief’ of the cave wall in a way that suggests a symbiotic relation between nature and culture. I argue that this qualifies as ‘receptivity to a situation’ and that this is a necessary element of the intentions made apparent by such cave art. I offer an alternative to prominent interpretations of cave art, including the Shamanist account and propose a structural interpretation attentive to particular cases. Seen in this way, cave art displays intentions that are analysable as having a tripartite structure: mentally directed, embedded in actions and receptive to a situation. Moreover, the latter is the medium through which the other two elements are conjoined. Drawing on a range of philosophical resources from both analytical philosophy and phenomenology, I argue that what I call cave art’s ‘intentional story’ is important for the philosophy of intentions more generally.
To join us for this seminar, please email hannah.whiting@essex.ac.uk for the Zoom link.