Abstract: The valorization of a single determinacy and the dualistic mode of thinking have made vision a visualized expression of the Western metaphysical tradition. Gadamer deconstructs visual centrism in traditional metaphysics and then constructs an ontology of vision in the tradition of hermeneutics, by which he explores and investigates into the truth of existence. Gadamer interprets visual observation on the basis of how the object affects the existence of the subject in the act of seeing and perceiving, and constructs his ontology of vision through a detailed explication of the concept of“play”. He undermines the subject/object opposition and questions the privileged status of the subject. Thus, in his philosophical system, visual observation turns upon itself and acquires an ontological status. Hence, Gadamer’s ontology of vision might guide the individuals lost in the darkness of the world to a reaffirmation of the autonomous and selfsufficient state of human existence.
 

Key words: Gadamer, ontology of vision, visual imitation, play