- Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via Flickr
The word “Ofness” (hereafter simply Ofness), previously unknown to me, became a familiar word as I delved into the subject of image subject retrieval. The term is used extensively in art and art history journals. The clearest discussion of its meaning that I have found online can be found in a wonderful book produced by the Getty: An Introduction to Art Image Access by Sara Shatford Layne, Patricia Harpring, Colum Hourihane, Christine L. Sundt, that also contains excellent illustrations. The definition of “of-ness” is given in the glossary as:
“An expression used in the context of subject description to refer to what a work of art depicts. Of-ness may also include a specific identification, as well as a generic description, of what is depicted in a work of art. This expression corresponds to Erwin Panofsky‘s identification and description, the first two levels of subject description outlined in Categories for the Description of Works of Art. For example, “The artwork is of a woman with snakes for hair” (description). “The artwork is of the gorgon Medusa, the creature in classical mythology who turned her beholders to stone” (identification). Compare about-ness.”
The term is often hypenated, as in the Getty publication, but I have seen it just as often unhypenated. I prefer the latter, I guess because it seems less tentative.
It was thus rather startling to me when I discovered that the word “ofness” cannot be found in standard reference works. Meanwhile the word appears in lots of other places. A search at Amazon for “ofness turned up 144 books, including the examples below.
Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig (Hardcover – April 2003) Excerpt - page 136: “… obtains. The important thing to note is that propositions have intentionality – ofness, aboutness, directedness towards an object. In fact, it is because ….”
The Cambridge Companion to Wittgenstein (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) by Hans D. Sluga and David G. Stern (Paperback – Oct 28, 1996) Excerpt – page 100: “… extremely general ones about intentionality, the property of “aboutness” or “ofness” whereby one part of the world…”
Truth and the New Kind of Christian: The Emerging Effects of Postmodernism in the Church by R. Scott Smith and J. P. Moreland (Paperback – Nov 8, 2005) Excerpt – page 181: “… beliefs and emotions) have intentionality, which simply is their ofness and aboutness. For instance, a feeling is about some- thing; …”
Making it Explicit: Reasoning, Representing, and Discursive Commitment by Robert B. Brandom (Paperback – Nov 1, 1998) Excerpt – page 336: “… of which expressions are properly interpreted as expressing attributions of ofness or aboutness in the intentional or semantic sense. …”
Reclaiming the Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times by D. A. Carson, Douglas Groothuis, J. P. Moreland, and Garrett DeWeese (Paperback – Nov 9, 2004) Excerpt – page 96: “… is just a construction. On this view, intentionality-a mental state’s “ofness,” “aboutness,” or “directedness” toward an object (even if the object …”
The following online references have NO entry for “Ofness:” Wictionary.org, Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, Visual Thesaurus, Random House Dictionary, Webster’s, Roget’s Thesaurus, OneLook Dictionary Search, Bartelby.com. A general Google search for “Ofness “reveals NOT a single listing. “Ofness “is invalid in the the MS WORD spell check function, though it has now been added to mine. I did find “Ofness” in Wordie, a site where members can share favorite, interesting, and unusual words. But it was on only one list, that of Made-up Library/Information Science Words. No further comment. “Aboutness” was also on this list. A disgruntled library science student perhaps? It was this entry that actually sent me on my search for this word. Wordie, by the way, has one great tagline: “Like Flickr, but without the photos.” One way to think of tagline, come to think of it, is as a website’s “ofness” statement.
A closer look at these 144 books revealed that many were listed only as the result of some truly appalling and uncorrected OCR scanning. But many, especially in the area of philosophy, were entirely valid. The plot thickens.
Is this the context in which the word was first used?
A search of Google Scholar retrieved 188 works, which like the Amazon results fell mostly in the categories of philosophy, art, information science and lousy OCR scanning. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to search the Oxford English Dictionary. I’m still looking forward to the day when one can purchase access to a single entry for a modest fee. (Presently the annual subscription fee for an individaul is $295.00 and the monthly fee is $29.95) Surely there is a cost point where this would be a win-win. Perhaps I’ll check this out, if I remember the next time I’m at the library. Meanwhile input from those who do have access is welcome.
Clearly “Ofness” is a term that has a long history and is important in certain realms of thought, if not in common parlance. Granted that general dictionaries are not going to contain every highly specialized word, but Ofness is such a useful word. Is there any other word in English that captures the meaning of “Ofness?” I cannot think of any. Are there any in other languages? It seems to me that it could be much more widely used. It’s the kind of word that makes you think. Its absence from dictionaries and other reference works may account for the fact that the domain names “Ofness.com” and “Ofness.org” were still available in early 2008. For this I am grateful, but still puzzled. I shall continue to follow the trail of “Ofness” and relate any new discoveries as they occur.
The word “Ofness” cannot be found in standard reference works; but is an important word in Philosophy and Art History. It is also damned useful.
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