Emanuel Swedenborg (redirected from Swedenbourg)

Swedenborg, Emanuel 

Born Mar. 29, 1688, in Stockholm; died Mar. 29, 1772, in London. Swedish scientist and theosophical mystic.

Swedenborg studied at the University of Uppsala. He spent most of the period from 1710 to 1714 in Great Britain. From 1716 to 1747 he was an assessor at the Royal Bureau of Mines in Stockholm. In 1734 he was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Swedenborg wrote many works on mining, mathematics, astronomy, and other subjects (Operaphilosophica et mineralia, 1734). Among his many technical designs was one for a flying machine with fixed wings.

In his quest for an explanation of the system of the universe, Swedenborg initially developed a mechanistic conception influenced by Descartes, Newton, and Locke. Later, this conception gave way to a spiritualistic natural philosophy similar to Neoplatonism. During the 1740’s Swedenborg wrote a number of works focusing on the relationship between spirit and matter and touching on a wide range of problems in anatomy, physiology, and psychology (for example, The Economy of the Animal Kingdom, vols. 1–2, 1740–41).

The evolution of Swedenborg’s world view culminated in a spiritual and religious crisis (1743–45). He had “visions,” and he heard “voices.” As a result, Swedenborg became a mystic and clairvoyant. In his many subsequent works he endeavored to provide a “true” interpretation of the Bible (Arcana coelestia, vols. 1–8, 1749–56; abridged Russian translation under the title On the Heavens, the World of Spirits, and Hell, 1863), and he expounded a doctrine of precise “correspondences” between earthly phenomena and those of “the other world,” at times sharply criticizing the church. Swedenborg’s theosophy was strongly criticized by Kant in Dreams of a Spirit-Seer (1766).

Swedenborg had an appreciable influence on romantic writers, including W. Blake (Great Britain) and R. Emerson (the USA). Communities of Swedenborg’s followers became common in various countries, particularly the USA and Great Britain (about 30,000 members in 1970). Since 1810, the Swedenborg Society in London has been concerned with the publication of Swedenborg’s works.

WORKS

Religiösa skrifter i urval. Stockholm, 1925.
In Russian translation:
Izbr. soch, fasc. 1. London, 1872.
O soobshchenii dushi i tela. St. Petersburg, 1910.
Uveseleniiapremudrosti o liubvi supruzhestvennoi. Moscow, 1914.

REFERENCES

Myslivchenko, A. G. Filosofskaia mysl’ v Shvetsii. Moscow, 1972. Pages 71–75.
Lamm, M. Swedenborg: En studie öfver hans utveckling till mystiker och andeskådare. Stockholm, 1915.
Toksvig, S. Emanuel Swedenborg, Scientist and Mystic. New Haven, Conn., 1948.
Sigstedt, C. O. The Swedenborg Epic. New York, 1952.
Jonsson, I. Swedenborgs korrespondenslära. Stockholm, 1969.
Hyde, J. A Bibliography of the Works of E. Swedenborg. London, 1906.

A. A. MATSEVICH