John Kulvicki
Dartmouth College (USA)
Reshaping the arts of space
2025–2026: Fall
John Kulvicki is a philosopher focusing on non-linguistic representation in art, science, and perception.
Across a few books and many papers, he has explored topics such as the nature of depiction, pictorial realism, sounds, colors, maps, iconography, pictorial metaphor, the primary/secondary quality distinction, the structure of perceptual representations, the analog/digital distinction, the uses of images in science, and the relationship between the philosophy of language and non-linguistic forms of representation.
His current project, Reshaping the Arts of Space, rethinks how we categorize art forms. Centering on how the arts engage with space enfranchises many practices that have received relatively little attention from philosophers, because they are not central to the fine arts. Diorama, cut silhouette, and tchotchkes have much to tell us about more artistically central practices like picture-making, statuary, and installation.
He has been a fellow at the Paris Institute for Advanced Studies, a Visiting Director of Studies at EHESS, Paris, and is currently Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College.
More information: kulvicki.org