TY - JOUR AU - Alberto Giacomelli PY - 2021/08/02 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Archetype, Urphänomen and Polarity: Aesthetic Considerations on Nature, Art, and Life Between Goethe’s Morphology and Taoism JF - Aesthetica Preprint JA - aesthetica-preprint VL - 0 IS - 117 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://www.mimesisjournals.com/ojs/index.php/aesthetica-preprint/article/view/1672 AB - In his scientific works, Goethe elaborates a morphology of nature based on a dynamic, organic and anti-essentialist conception of life and its forms. To clarify what Goethe means by “morphology” in both natural and artistic spheres, I mean to show the specificity of such fundamental notions as “archetype”, “original phenomenon”, “form” and “formation”. I will then explain how Goethe’s morphology is closely linked to the notion of “polarity”, referring in particular to Faust. In the second part of the paper, I will develop a cross-cultural comparison between Goethe’s morphology and Taoist thought. Then I will highlight some similarities and differences between the ‘classical’ Chinese landscape painting of Shitao and the and the Goethe-influenced painting of Carl Gustav Carus. ER -