Abstract

This paper deals with a paradoxon inherent to the concept of “reification”, commonly used with negative connotations only, as seen from the stance of phenomenological aesthetics. A positive understanding of the term is proposed in this pleading for a re-evaluation of our notion of a “thing” and its significance for the human access to the world. After an inquiry into Adorno’s ambiguous reflections on reification by creating art works, and reification of art itself, a discussion of the Japanese garden yields further elucidation concerning phenomena of artistic reification, as well as the ontological status of natural things.