Vincent Roy-Di Piazza
Research Topic
Anatomy of Revelation: soul-mind-body interaction in the anatomical, philosophical and theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
My doctoral research focuses on the soul-body interaction theories of Swedish civil servant, natural philosopher and visionary theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), through his natural philosophical, anatomical and theological writings. Soul-body interaction is one of the few themes Swedenborg explored during all his life, both prior and after claiming to have received the ability to speak with the spirits of the dead and the angels.
I am particularly interested in analysing and deconstructing traditional scholarship about Swedenborg, and showing how a new study of Swedenborg's epistemological perspective sheds light on the early modern religious foundations of scientific knowledge. I am interested in the contribution of Swedenborg to the notion of reliable evidence and in the history of "coordination", especially related to the interaction of soul, mind and body.
Supervisor: Professor Robert Iliffe
Current scholarships:
Gilbert Ryle Scholar in Philosophy of Science, Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership, Doctoral Scholar of the Swedenborg Society
Education:
2012: BA in English Studies, Sorbonne Nouvelle
2015: BA in Nordic Studies, Sorbonne
2018: MA in Religious Sciences, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) / Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) (First class honours)
2018: MA in History and Philosophy of Science, Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS Ulm) / Université Paris Diderot (P7) (First class honours)
Personal page:
