THE COVERT ENLIGHTENMENT

Description

The European Enlightenment in the latter half of the eighteenth century heralded a grave conflict between theological and scientific modes of thought, starkly revealing the ancient tensions between spiritual knowledge and rationalism. Yet there was another, lesser-known movement during this time—a ‘covert’ Enlightenment—that sought to bring fresh perspectives on the soul, and by extension, on the human mind and on consciousness. This work examines the influence of Emanuel Swedenborg and Anton Mesmer on the budding movement toward psychology in the late-eighteenth century and also spiritualism and millennialism in the nineteenth century.

Author bio

ALFRED J GABAY, professor in the School of Arts and Education at La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, brings together intellectual and popular currents that influenced generations of people throughout the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He also shows how Swedenborg’s works influenced these movements and was sometimes misunderstood and misappropriated.

Additional Information

This book can be purchased from the Swedenborg Society in London, however, if you are in the USA, you can order directly from the Swedenborg Foundation.