A presente tese se desenvolve por meio da constituição do conceito de protoforma orgânica com o qual objetivamos tratar de relações problemáticas entre as noções gerais de vida e individualidade, particularmente no que se refere ao problema de suas origens, compreendida aqui como o momento privilegiado da gênese organo-vital no qual a tensão entre vida e individualidade se expressa de modo mais evidente. Vida, individualidade e origens se constituem em noções gerais e em grandes temas da investigação e da reflexão filosófica e científica de todos os tempos. O conceito de protoforma orgânica emerge da observação de diversos elementos em um solo histórico-conceitual de investigações científicas e em filosofia natural, que se constitui num conjunto de expressões históricas particulares que investigamos em nossa tese, a saber, os conceitos de monera, de Urschleim e de Urpflanze. Estruturamos o conceito de protoforma orgânica a partir de duas noções-eixo que nortearam o seu sentido. A primeira delas é a noção de uma polaridade entre uma condição pré-individual e uma condição individual como constituinte da forma orgânica. A segunda é a noção de memória orgânica como uma propriedade anímico-psíquica das formas orgânicas universalmente presente, desde os seus níveis mais elementares. Trata-se, assim, de compreender como se dá a relação problemática entre vida e individualidade e como a questão das suas origens pode contribuir para tal compreensão. Assim, o conceito de protoforma orgânica foi estruturado dentro de uma visão morfológica na qual as noções de forma e de orgânico se entrelaçam com as noções de vida e de individualidade. / The present thesis proposes the constitution of the concept of organic protoform with which we aim to deal with problematic relations between the general notions of life and individuality. Particularly with regard to the problem of its origins, understood here as the privileged moment of the genesis of organo-vital beings, at which moment the tension between life and individuality is expressed more clearly. Life, individuality and origins are general notions and themes of research and philosophical and scientific reflection of all time. The concept of organic protoform emerges from the observation of several elements directed to a historical-conceptual soil of scientific investigations and natural philosophy. This basis is constituted by our investigation into a set of particular historical expressions which we investigate in our thesis, namely the concepts of monera, Urschleim and Urpflanze. We structured the concept of organic protoform from two notions-axis that guided its meaning. The first is the notion of a polarity between a preindividual condition and an individual condition as a constituent of the organic form. The second is the notion of organic memory as a psychic property of organic forms universally present, from its most elementary levels. It is therefore a question of understanding how the problematic relationship between life and individuality takes place and how the question of its origins can contribute to this understanding. Thus, the concept of organic protoform was structured within a morphological vision in which the notions of form and of organic intertwine with the notions of life and of individuality.

A presente tese se desenvolve por meio da constituição do conceito de protoforma orgânica com o qual objetivamos tratar de relações problemáticas entre as noções gerais de vida e individualidade, particularmente no que se refere ao problema de suas origens, compreendida aqui como o momento privilegiado da gênese organo-vital no qual a tensão entre vida e individualidade se expressa de modo mais evidente. Vida, individualidade e origens se constituem em noções gerais e em grandes temas da investigação e da reflexão filosófica e científica de todos os tempos. O conceito de protoforma orgânica emerge da observação de diversos elementos em um solo histórico-conceitual de investigações científicas e em filosofia natural, que se constitui num conjunto de expressões históricas particulares que investigamos em nossa tese, a saber, os conceitos de monera, de Urschleim e de Urpflanze. Estruturamos o conceito de protoforma orgânica a partir de duas noções-eixo que nortearam o seu sentido. A primeira delas é a noção de uma polaridade entre uma condição pré-individual e uma condição individual como constituinte da forma orgânica. A segunda é a noção de memória orgânica como uma propriedade anímico-psíquica das formas orgânicas universalmente presente, desde os seus níveis mais elementares. Trata-se, assim, de compreender como se dá a relação problemática entre vida e individualidade e como a questão das suas origens pode contribuir para tal compreensão. Assim, o conceito de protoforma orgânica foi estruturado dentro de uma visão morfológica na qual as noções de forma e de orgânico se entrelaçam com as noções de vida e de individualidade. / The present thesis proposes the constitution of the concept of organic protoform with which we aim to deal with problematic relations between the general notions of life and individuality. Particularly with regard to the problem of its origins, understood here as the privileged moment of the genesis of organo-vital beings, at which moment the tension between life and individuality is expressed more clearly. Life, individuality and origins are general notions and themes of research and philosophical and scientific reflection of all time. The concept of organic protoform emerges from the observation of several elements directed to a historical-conceptual soil of scientific investigations and natural philosophy. This basis is constituted by our investigation into a set of particular historical expressions which we investigate in our thesis, namely the concepts of monera, Urschleim and Urpflanze. We structured the concept of organic protoform from two notions-axis that guided its meaning. The first is the notion of a polarity between a preindividual condition and an individual condition as a constituent of the organic form. The second is the notion of organic memory as a psychic property of organic forms universally present, from its most elementary levels. It is therefore a question of understanding how the problematic relationship between life and individuality takes place and how the question of its origins can contribute to this understanding. Thus, the concept of organic protoform was structured within a morphological vision in which the notions of form and of organic intertwine with the notions of life and of individuality.

The following project will examine the scientific, metaphysical, and aesthetic themes connected to Goethe's vision of Natur during and surrounding the years of his famed Italian Journey. Goethe's progressing conceptualization of the Urpflanze during this period, as witnessed in his autobiographical Italienische Reise and the Versuch, die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu erklaren, will be of special concern because of its pertinence to a number of vital natural scientific themes in Goethe's scientific work. I will also trace the progression of these themes over time as seen in Goethe's related theories of the intermaxillary bone and of the morphology of plant organs so as to maintain that the Italian Journey may be seen as a period not only of literary revitalization as commonly cited, but also of scientific progress in connection with Goethe's deepening understanding of Natur as well as its inherent laws and archetypal nature. The first chapter will introduce the project's problem in detail as well as the textual and critical obstructions associated with the project. I will maintain in Chapter II that Goethe's biography during the 1780s shows a systematic progression in the understanding of Natur in his scientific projects and in the Reise, which also helps to demonstrate that Goethe's Journey was a period during which Goethe was able to develop, in greater detail than heretofore, his metaphysical vision of Natur. In Chapter III, I will investigate the primary textual material on Goethe?s notion of the Urpflanze within the Italienische Reise and its resulting extension in his 1790 study of plant morphology, the Metamorphose der Pflanzen. Chapter IV will discuss the topic of the Eins in Nature and anschauende Urteilskraft as detected in Goethe's scientific writings. Chapter V will continue and conclude this argument by linking Richards' argument regarding "Romantic biologists" to Goethe?s natural science during the time of the Italian Journey, thus making a connection between Kunst and Natur in the Italienische Reise and in Goethe's scientific projects during and surrounding the Journey.