由于我们通常把『什么是艺术?』作为一个本质论或本体论问题,所以关于艺术的问题就时常陷入理论的循环阐释中。图像研究涉及到的领域广度和历史深度为艺术研究开辟了潜在的新方向。图像研究涉及到柏拉图以来哲学家们对图像的思考而接近于认识论问题,同时图像与造型艺术和文字的发源也有着同一的人类学根源,所以,或许我们就此可以提出『图像的起源是否就是艺术的起源』这样的问题。 Since we usually regard “what is art?” As an issue of essentialism or ontology, the problems concerning art often fall into the cyclic interpretation of theory. The breadth and depth of history involved in image research open up new potential directions for art research. Image research involves the philosophers’ thoughts on images since Plato and approaches the epistemological issue. At the same time, the origins of images and plastic arts and writing also share the same anthropological roots. Therefore, we may put forward the question whether the origin of images is art The origin of "such problems.