The questions of media sciences, more than ten years afters its formation, have changed. The image as a cultural figuration and its use in media discourse are the focus of this examination. In the sense of a "new" or a "second" image science images are considered to be performative elements of a visual culture which influence our perception and our everyday actions in and by media. Beyond a distant decription of images the texts of the anthology turn to this understanding from the perspective of media and cultural studies. Starting with the question of lie and deception - one of the main issues of knowledge in image science - the use of images in media, public and everyday life is analyzed. The notion of image in the cultural studies requires an interdisciplinary access, which in this case is accomplished by philosophy, the science of history, linguistics, theology, science of art, informatics and sociology.

The anthology refers to a series of speeches that took place in Koblenz in 2005 entitled "Bilder, die lügen" ("Images that lie"). The series came into existence at the University of Koblenz in cooperation with the "Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Rheinland-Pfalz" and refers to an exhibition of the same title designed by the "Haus der Geschichte" in Bonn.