Digital Images: Content and Compositionality

作者：Isaac Alistair M C^*

来源：British Journal of Nutrition, 2017, 118(1): 106-126.

DOI：10.1017/apa.2017.13

• imagistic content
• pictorial representation
• analog/digital distinction
• compositionality
• synonymy

Typical accounts of imagistic content have focused on the apparent analog character or continuous variability of images. In contrast, I consider the distinctive features of digital images, those composed of finite sets of discrete pixels. A rich source of evidence on digital imagistic content is found in the content-preserving algorithms that resize and reproduce digital images on computer screens and printers. I argue that these algorithms reveal a distinctive structural feature: digital images are always compositional (their parts contribute systematically to overall content), but never inverse compositional (atomic parts may be replaced nonsynonymously without changing content). This indicates a sharp contrast with linguistic representations, which may or may not be compositional, and may or may not be inverse compositional. I argue this result sheds new light on the claim that imagistic content is inherently perspectival.

• 出版日期2017-7