Imitation is one of those fundamental ideas in Western culture; like the idea of the Being, it runs throughout European thought from one end to the other. From Ancient Classical times to the 17^th century, imitation theory - in the form of imitation of Nature, of our forefathers, or of Platonic ideas - had been universally accepted in all arts and sciences. Suddenly, any trace of imitation theories disappeared in the 18^th century; they continued to be absent in the 19^th century, due to the hegemony of the emerging modernity, whose principle of autonomy did not accept the idea of imitating other. Nevertheless, at the end of the 19^th century and throughout the 20^th century, the theory found new and surprising incarnations at the very heart of philosophy and other disciplines. It is not by chance that this re-emergence coincided with the crisis of modernity and the radical criticism of traditional metaphysics.

Despite the indisputable historical importance of imitation and its role in contemporary thought, no thorough and complete history has been written on the idea of imitation. This is a void this book intends to fill, a book that the renowned Spanish philosopher Mugüerza praises for its erudition and for the brilliant academic savoir faire of the author. As the philosopher points out in the introduction, this "saves the book, and us from reading academic debris, testifying to its accessible reading." The comprehensive view of this history is a veritable novelty; it gives evidence of the great theoretical possibilities, still-unexplored, that are contained in a intellectual tradition of cultural ideas - such as imitation, models, example and prototype - which have been overlooked by a dominant metaphysical tradition. The aim of the present volume is to rectify this situation. Based on the conclusions of previous historical essays, the author proposes a completely new general theory on imitation, which, while respecting the tenets of modernity, demands at the same time a thorough revision.

Translated by Jennifer Brooke Hoge

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