Schelling and Swedenborg

This work derives from Horn's doctoral thesis on German philosopher Friedrich Schelling; Horn studied at Marburg University under Ernst Benz, who examined the impact of Swedenborg's theology on nineteenth-century Europe. Horn documents Schelling's engagement with Swedenborg's works, an engagement fuelled by the deaths of two women whom Schelling loved. Schelling framed a philosophy that addressed his personal issues; and in Swedenborg's descriptions of the spiritual realm, he found an invaluable resource. The scholar will find suggestive contacts with Goethe, Wagner, and Franz von Baader, and with a theosophical tradition whose importance may have been overshadowed by Kant's scathing criticism of Swedenborg. In giving access to that undercurrent, Horn provides a unique and neglected view of nineteenth-century thought.