The Artificial Paradise

A Snapshot of Secular Eschatology in Post-War Sweden

Abstract

The redemptive function of science is a central facet of contemporary late-modern mythology, which due to the preeminent discursive hegemony of scientism generally goes more or less unexamined. A kind of redemptive scientism has popularly been acknowledged as simply real and unquestionably true, whereas neither the rationale nor the character of these narratives are sufficiently critically examined. Arguably, the trust in scientific redemption has waned in later years, which due to the narratives' dominant role risks engendering profound effects upon culture and society in general, yet these consequences are difficult to understand since we are insufficiently familiar with the myths that cause them. The purpose of this article is to exemplify the reproduction of such secular eschatologies within the framework of the futurology literature from a period which strongly affirmed and celebrated them. This will hopefully enable us to better understand their character, entrenchment, and ideological consequences, as well as what may follow from a developing rejection of them.