L’economia della natura e il respiro del mondo. La filosofia della natura di Swedenborg tra Herder e Schelling (1770-1810)

The central role of the notion of ‘life’ mainly characterises the dialogue between Naturphilosophie and the sciences between the end of the Eighteenth and the first decades of the Nineteenth Century in Germany. Many problems and topics, from the relation Infinite-finite to that between inorganic matter and living beings, rely on this concept. Especially in the period between 1770 and 1810, authors such as Herder, Goethe and Schelling tried to provide a philosophical explanation of the genesis of the cosmos and that of the single organisms. In so doing, they pursued an understanding of how the coexistence of unity and variety in every part of the universe, and the concurrence of the ‘economy’ of the whole and the individual development, are possible. This led them to a dynamic idea of nature: a continual transformation or metamorphosis of forms takes place according to the repetition, in different ways, of a unique model or ‘typus’ and suggests the view of the world as an organism, according to the old formula that ‘the great’ corresponds to the ‘small’. For a better understanding of these problems, it is useful to consider them also from a historical point of view, taking into account some of the sources of the German thought of these decades about life and nature. In this perspective, Emanuel Swedenborgʼs philosophy of nature can be considered as a paradigm for many concepts, all related to the problem of life, which are very important for the German philosophers such as Herder and Schelling. For this reason, I will consider the reception of his ideas and works in Germany during the years from 1760 to 1810, taking advantage, in particular, of the reviews of his scientific and philosophical writings, and of the survey of the presence of his works and translations in the catalogues of the private libraries of philosophers. A big part of this thesis is devoted to the analysis of Swedenborg’s, Herder’s and Schelling’s writings (some of which are not available in Italian language yet), in order to make a comparison and show the connections among their ideas, which still partially need a thorough consideration.