Aufklärung Bis Zum Himmel

English summary: In Immanuel Kant's Dreams of a Spirit-Seer , Swedenborg is seen as a candidate for the hospital and at the same time is said to be an arch-hallucinator. This hard verdict may have contributed considerably to the fact that Swedenborg's name has virtually disappeared from official historiography, although the works of Swedenborg, who was a natural philosopher and a theologian, were read by many of his contemporaries. In view of Swedenborg's surprising sources in...
More Description

English summary: In Immanuel Kant's Dreams of a Spirit-Seer , Swedenborg is seen as a candidate for the hospital and at the same time is said to be an arch-hallucinator. This hard verdict may have contributed considerably to the fact that Swedenborg's name has virtually disappeared from official historiography, although the works of Swedenborg, who was a natural philosopher and a theologian, were read by many of his contemporaries. In view of Swedenborg's surprising sources in particular, Friedemann Stengel reconstructs his comprehensive works, which were based on mechanistic natural philosophy, contemporary soul and brain research, Leibniz-Wolff rationalism and Lutheran theology. The origins, and mainly Swedenborg's striking reception, open up an unexpected perspective on the Enlightenment. German description: In den Traumen eines Geistersehers (1766) ist Swedenborg von Immanuel Kant ins aHospital verbannt und zugleich zum aErzphantasten erklart worden. Dieses scharfe Verdikt durfte erheblichen Anteil daran gehabt haben, dass der Name Swedenborgs aus der offiziellen Geschichtsschreibung weitestgehend verschwunden ist, obwohl die Schriften des Naturphilosophen und Theologen Swedenborg von vielen Zeitgenossen gelesen worden sind. Sein umfangreiches Werk, das aus der mechanistischen Naturphilosophie, aus der zeitgenossischen Seelen- und Hirnforschung, aus dem Leibniz-Wolffschen Rationalismus und vor dem Hintergrund der lutherischen Theologie konstruiert worden ist, stellt Friedemann Stengel im Hinblick gerade auf seine uberraschenden Quellen dar. Der Entstehungshintergrund, vor allem aber Swedenborgs wirkungsvolle Rezeption eroffnet eine unerwartete Perspektive auf die Aufklarung.