Space, Networks, and the Saint-Simonians

摘要

A disconcerting truth about the so-called Age of Enlightenment is that it saw a surge of enthusiasm for occult practices, paranormal phenomena, ancient myths, and alchemy.1 Even more surprising, this concern with what lay beyond the rational horizon did not generally imply a rejection of Enlightenment empiricism: often the same thinkers pursued both occult and more mainstream inquiries, and even those who stuck to the more hermetic and speculative side of things generally presented themselves as proponents rather than critics of philosophie.