'Ghosts from other planets': plurality of worlds, afterlife and satire in Emanuel Swedenborg's De Telluribus in mundo nostro solari (1758).
Annals of science October 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1080/00033790.2020.1817557 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA 1758 treatise by Emanuel Swedenborg, Earths in our solar system, argued for life on other planets by claiming communication with extraterrestrial spirits in the afterlife. The paper shows that Swedenborg combined two popular literary genres—writings on the plurality of worlds and dialogues of the dead—for the first time. This revised understanding presents Swedenborg as a versatile but ill-fated recombiner of literary genres. The work also sheds light on eighteenth-century literary interactions and the reception of themes like plurality of worlds, mysticism, and satire in Scandinavia and Germany.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Emanuel swedenborg Extra-terrestrial life Plurality of worlds Satire |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Swedenborg's De Telluribus combined for the first time the literary codes of two popular genres—plurality of worlds and dialogues of the dead—revising scholarly understanding of him as a versatile yet ill-fated recombiner of literary genres. |
Abstract
In 1758 in London, Swedish natural philosopher and mystic theologian Emanuel Swedenborg published De Telluribus in Mundo nostro Solari (Earths in our solar system), a treatise on the plurality of worlds and life on other planets. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these topics formed a heterogenous literary genre which encompassed theology, astronomy, philosophy and satire. In De Telluribus, Swedenborg made detailed claims of communication with extraterrestrial spirits in the afterlife, through which he sought to spread his theology to new audiences. The paper will explore the role of De Telluribus in Swedenborg's career, explain its content and analyse its polarized reception. It will show that De Telluribus combined for the first time the literary codes of two popular genres during the period, namely those concerning the plurality of worlds and the dialogues of the dead. By doing so, the paper revises current scholarly understanding of Swedenborg by showcasing him as a versatile yet ill-fated recombiner of literary genres. More broadly, the paper will shed light upon previously unnoticed eighteenth-century literary interactions along with a wider overview on the reception of themes such as the plurality of worlds, mysticism and satire in Scandinavia and Germany.