Spiritualism in Germany: The reception of the American Spiritualist Andrew Jackson Davis in the long 19th century. From republicanism, to free religion, and science

该项目探索了知识分子计划和他们的主角之间的联系，在既定的史学中，它们通常被分开对待或相互对照：唯心论与科学，唯心论与基督教，以及唯心论与政治冲突，如1848年德国革命。该项目重点关注安德鲁·杰克逊·戴维斯（Andrew Jackson Davis, 1826-1910）的作品，他是被引用最多的美国唯心论作者之一，以及他们与德国关于宗教、科学和社会改革的辩论的结合。传统上，唯心论被置于宗教史的边缘，通常与已建立的宗教、科学和社会形成鲜明对比。这对通灵术实践的历史分析产生了影响。首先，这种内涵系统地边缘化了19世纪唯心主义思想的内容，或者（重新）以一种孤立的方式引入同样的内容。此外，19世纪的相关主角，或他们作品的某些方面，要么在历史著作中被边缘化，要么被各自解释现代性发展的模式完全抛弃，因为它们不进步或不合时宜。唯心论和自由宗教（德国天主教徒，光明之友/新教之友）之间的明显联系甚至不是从宗教史的有利位置建立起来的。重要的是要强调，戴维斯接待的主角们不仅作为科学家做出了重要贡献，比如利奥波迪纳的主席内斯·冯·埃森贝克或口腔科的联合创始人格奥尔格·冯·朗斯多夫。尼斯和后来的格雷戈尔·康斯坦丁·维蒂希也是普鲁士德国天主教运动的核心人物。此外，尼斯和朗斯多夫在1848年前后所持的政治和革命立场似乎也至关重要。因此，该项目将探索招魂术、科学和政治之间的各种智力、个人和组织联系。这一探索的前提是，科学、文化和政治话语的基本动力来自于这种环境。关于19世纪及其知识的现有叙述将被严格审查，以考虑宗教，科学和政治之间的这种关系。

The project explores the nexus between intellectual programmes and their protagonists, which are typically treated separately or contrasted with one another in established historiography: spiritualism versus science, spiritualism versus Christianity, and spiritualism versus political conflict, such as the 1848 revolution in Germany. The project focuses on the works of Andrew Jackson Davis (1826-1910), one of the most cited authors of American Spiritualism, and their incorporation into German debates about religion, science, and social reform. Conventionally, spiritualism is placed at the fringes of the history of religion and is typically represented in contrast to established religion, science, and society. This has consequences for the historical analysis of spiritualist practices and beyond. First and foremost, such connotations systematically marginalise the contents of spiritualist thought in the 19th century or (re-)introduce the same in an isolated manner. Moreover, the related protagonists of the 19th century, or certain aspects of their work, are either marginalised in historical writings, or they are wholly discarded as not progressive or as anachronistic by the respective patterns for explaining the development of modernity. The obvious connections between spiritualism and free religion (German Catholics, Friends of the Light/Protestant Friends) are not even made from the vantage point of a history of religions. It is important to emphasise that the protagonists of the Davis reception to be explored did not only make important contributions as scientists, such as the Leopoldina president Nees von Esenbeck or the co-founder of the discipline of stomatology, Georg von Langsdorff. Nees as well as the later Gregor Konstantin Wittig were also central actors of the German Catholic movement in Prussia. Moreover, the political and revolutionary positions held by Nees and Langsdorff around 1848 seem to be of central importance as well. The project will therefore explore the various intellectual, personal, and organisational connections between spiritualism, science, and politics. This exploration rests on the premise that essential impulses for the scientific, cultural, and political discourse came from this environment. Existing narratives about the 19th century and its epistemes will be critically examined with regard to this relationship between religions, science, and politics.