The Natural philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg: A Study in the Conceptual Metaphors of the Mechanistic World-View (Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind Book 11)

Although Emanuel Swedenborg (1688--1772) is commonly known for his spiritual philosophy, his early career was focused unnatural science. During this period, Swedenborg thought of the world was like a gigantic machine, following the laws of mechanics and geometry. This volume analyzes this mechanistic worldview from the cognitive perspective, by means of a study of the metaphors in Swedenborg's texts. The author argues that these conceptual metaphors are vital skills of the creative mind and scientific thinking, used to create visual analogies and abstract ideas. This means that Swedenborg's me. Read more... Abstract: This book analyzes Swedenborg's early mechanistic worldview from a cognitive perspective, using a study of metaphors in his texts. The author argues that metaphors are vital to the creative mind and scientific thinking, to visual analogies and abstract ideas. Read more... Annotation Although Emanuel Swedenborg (16881772) is commonly known for his spiritual philosophy, his early career was focused unnatural science. During this period, Swedenborg thought of the world was like a gigantic machine, following the laws of mechanics and geometry. This volume analyzes this mechanistic worldview from the cognitive perspective, by means of a study of the metaphors in Swedenborgs texts. The author argues that these conceptual metaphors are vital skills of the creative mind and scientific thinking, used to create visual analogies and abstract ideas. This means that Swedenborgs mechanistic and geometrical worldview, allowed him to perceive the world as mechanical and geometrical. Swedenborg thought with books and pens. The reading gave him associations and clues, forced him to interpret, and gave him material for his intellectual development Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-36 The Space....Pages 37-75 The Sign....Pages 77-127 The Wave....Pages 129-206 The Sphere....Pages 207-278 The Point....Pages 279-302 The Spiral....Pages 303-351 The Infinite....Pages 353-383 Conclusion....Pages 385-416 Back Matter....Pages 417-473