Abstract
Although not a central theme, aesthetics nevertheless played an important role throughout Nishida's thought. Initially, Nishida's interest revolved around the questions of art and beauty, as discussed in "An Explanation of Beauty" (美の 説明) [1900] or "Art and Morality" (芸術と道徳) [1923].
However, it can be claimed that, with Nishida's later writings, the very scope of aesthetics underwent essential broadening. Whether or not explicitly with art in mind, Nishida devoted much attention to pondering creative acting: human action as such can be characterized as poiētic (ポイエシス的).
In this context, the relevant question becomes how to best describe photographic activity as a specific "aesthetic practice." Starting from that which is already made, a photographer is engaged in the making of photographic images. So what kind of seeing brings about "public objects" ( 公のもの) such as photographs that are worthwhile of others' attention? And why is it interesting to take photographs at all? Can we perhaps speak of beauty in relation to photography? Or does their aesthetic quality rather have to do with their non-contestable realism? Rather than offering final answers to these questions, in my presentation I wish - to paraphrase John Maraldo - to sketch out possible paths that can be crossed with Nishida in an attempt to shed light on photography and the photographically relevant.