Did Emanuel Swedenborg have near-death experiences? Envisioning a developmental account of NDEs.
Simon R. Jones, Charles Fernyhough
Journal of Near-Death Studies 2009 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-2009-27-3-p157-187 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Key points | Argues that Swedenborg's experiences were caused by neural changes from unusual respiration and temporal lobe seizure predisposition, and proposes testable hypotheses for a developmental approach to NDEs. |
Abstract
Article examining the phenomenological commonalities between Emanuel Swedenborg's experiences and near-death experiences (NDEs). It argues that a distal cause of Swedenborg's experiences was neural changes induced by his lifetime of unusual respiration, in conjunction with a predisposition to temporal lobe seizures. It concludes by proposing a number of empirically testable hypotheses emerging from the arguments, centered around a developmental approach to NDEs.