Images: A Reader is divided into three parts:

* Historical and Philosophical Precedents sets the background for contemporary debates about images.

* Theories of Images provides key texts of the major approaches through which images are conceptualised.

* Image Culture introduces some of the more recent debates about images and today′s visual environment.

The selection of over 80 key readings, across the domains of philosophy, art, literature, science, critical theory and cultural studies tells the story of images through intellectual history from the Bible to the present. By including both well-established writings and more recent, innovative research, the Reader outlines crucial developments in contemporary discourses about images.