Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Literature and Theater

SWEDENBORG, EMANUEL

(1688-1772)
A Swedish Enlightenment philosopher and theologian, Swedenborg is notable for his influence on such writers as the SwedesCarl Jonas Love AlmqvistandAugust Strindberg, as well as the American Ralph Waldo Emerson. The son of a Lutheran bishop, Swedenborg studied classical philology at Uppsala University and then spent the next 30 years studying natural science within the Enlightenment framework of his day. A great synthesizer of the research of other scientists, he made significant contributions to geology and metallurgy. Through the study of physiology he attempted to solve the mysteries of the human soul.
A series of mystical experiences, including visions and dreams, led him to claim contact with the divine. Influenced by the ideas of neoplatonism, he developed a religious system that emphasized the existence of a spiritual reality that is reflected in the visible world. He described his visions with scientific exactness inDe coelo et de inferno(1758, tr.Heaven and Hell, 1852), as well as in other works where conditions in heaven and hell are detailed, and which exist in multiple editions in English translation.

  1. swedenborg, emanuel—born Emanuel Swedberg A Swedish scientist philosopher theologian and mystic who from onwards experienced many dreams and visions which he designated as encounters wit...Dictionary of Hallucinations
  2. swedenborg, emanuel—Swedish natural philosopher theologian and mystic. Swedenborg was born into a prominent ecclesiastical family and educated at Uppsala. While working in the Board of Mines...Philosophy dictionary