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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Scientific Revelations
Spiritual Revelations
How Swedenborg Has Been Portrayed
Evaluating Swedenborg
Resistance to Swedenborg
Is Swedenborg's Dualism Scientific?
The Six Minimal Premises of Dualist Science
1. The existence of the dual sun
2. The existence of vertical degrees
3. The existence of influx
4. The existence of vertical community
5. No function without substance or the dualist methodology
6. All phenomena are human
Extracting
Dualist Concepts From Swedenborg's Writings
It is Not Known Revealed
Scientific Puzzles For Dualist Science
Conclusion
References
Related Articles
INTRODUCTION
The Writings of Swedenborg (1688-1771) have elicited a variety of reactions
over the centuries, including those
who have made them a basis of a new
Christian revelation to those who have considered them the grandiose
output
a mere madman and mystic. Recently, Talbot (1997) revisits the long literary
history of Swedenborg's
alleged insanity, a charge which understandably
has offended many of the New Church intellectuals. The logic
and arguments
of the Swedenborgian supporters (see Larsen, 1988; Williams-Hogan, 1988) appears
far
superior, more detailed, and weightier than the meager, insufficient,
and contentious speculations of the
Swedenborg detractors.
The latest of these insanity charges, which Talbot fully and definitively
demonstrates to be unfounded and
untenable, is a brief note by John Johnson
in the British Journal of Psychiatry (1994) in which he concludes on
the
basis of psychohistorical methods ("psychopathography") that Swedenborg's
spiritual experiences were
"hallucinations" of "acute schizophrenia
or epileptic psychosis." Similar charges by other psychiatrists are
referred
to (e.g., Maudsley) held together by the unifying idea that Swedenborg had "the
conviction that he was
the Messiah and the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus
Christ." As Talbot points out, this charge is clearly
inaccurate to
anyone who reads Swedenborg's writings. Swedenborg never claimed to be the Messiah
but
rather to worship the Messiah as God-Man and to announce to the world
the good news of the Messiah's
Second Advent for which he was a witness
and revelator in response to a special and unique Divine calling. He
always
insisted that it was not he, Swedenborg, who was holy or special or infallible,
but his given mission, and
that people should test the ideas in his writings
by their own common sense and rational thinking. He always
insisted that
people should not believe anything except what their common sense and their
rational convince
them of being truth. Thus he always presents the ideas
in the writings as one would present scientific or legal
issues in a court
of law or legislative body, thus, from a rational perspective with a rational
method, and
following a rational sequence. The purpose is always to prove
logically and common sensically and by analogy,
avoiding blind acceptance
or persuasion as one ought to avoid the plagues.
Perhaps to many psychiatrists it makes no difference whether Swedenborg thought
he was the Messiah or
whether he thought he was merely announcing the Messiah's
Second Coming, with himself as the only earthly
witness to it. In both cases
modern psychiatry would almost compulsively assign a diagnosis of psychosis.
Strengthening this diagnosis, psychiatrists would point to facts acknowledged
and commonly accepted by
Swedenborgians, such as the following:
* Swedenborg kept a diary of his daily conversations
with "spirits" who are inhabitants of the
spiritual world after their death in this world.
* Jesus Christ personally appeared to him in a vision
on more than on one occasion and directly
instructed
Swedenborg to write about his experiences with spirits and their relation to
the Bible, and
to call these writings Sacred Revelations,
the Second Coming of Christ, as a means of effecting a
new Christian dispensation for the entire future to come.
* As part of this New Christian revelation Swedenborg
presents his series of experiences in the
spiritual
world including the direct communication with spirits who had been born on various
planets
inside and outside the solar system, and
even some episodes that involved actually "seeing through
the eyes" of living inhabitants on distant planets, through the mediation
of spirits.
* Also as part of this new revelation, Swedenborg
includes his extensive conversations with
"angels"
who are the inhabitants of celestial regions after their departure form the
planetary life, and
who shared with him their knowledge
and wisdom about human behavior, about life on planets,
about human anatomy, morality, religion, and God.
* Swedenborg reports conversations with historically
known figures such as Moses, David, Mary,
Aristotle,
Luther, Newton, as well as contemporaries who had just departed including a
Swedish
king and other acquaintances and family
members. In these conversations, Swedenborg reveals
new facts about these people, not known from history, such as for instance,
Newton's recantation
and rejection of his concept
of vacuum (see below), an idea Swedenborg abhors as irrational.
Another: his conversations with Luther (SD 5103) who confesses that an angel
appeared to him at
the beginning of his attempts
to effect a religious schism in Catholic Christianity, warning Luther not
to continue pushing his idea of "faith alone saves, not works" because
it is a false idea and harmful.
But Luther did
it anyway because he saw no other way of solidifying the Protestant schism,
and then
he confessed his regretfulness to Swedenborg.
* Swedenborg's description of the afterlife, or
"the spiritual world," is universalized in absolute
terms. He offered his extensive writings of more than two dozen volumes, self-published
in
Neo-Latin at his own expense, as the very Word
of God, both equal to the Bible, describing himself
and his work as "the greatest miracle ever granted by the Lord" in
the history of humankind.
* Swedenborg's writings cover both spiritual and
natural or scientific revelations.
SCIENTIFIC REVELATIONS
These include:
* Cosmology or the origin of the universe through
the "two suns" and their intervening atmospheres,
and the methods of its current maintenance by the Laws of Divine Providence
and
Permissions--see (DLW and DP); Also: the character
of evolution of civilizations on planets, such
as the fact that our planet is the only one among numerous other inhabited planets
that have a
mechanized or industrialized society;
* Medical science including the characteristic functions
and origins of some viruses not yet
identified
in his lifetime (SD; see Blom-Dahl, 1996); Also:
* The nature of psycho-somatic operations, such
as the observation that "anxieties about the future
affect the stomach more than the rest of the viscera" (AC 5178);
* The anatomy of brain structures too small to identify
with the microscope (EAK;; see also
Psychological
Transactions (1743);
* The lack of sensation and thought in the fetus
(DLW 405);
* Anthropology and archeology, including many unknown
facts about ancient peoples, sacred
scriptures,
culture, religion, lifespan, death rituals, symbols, hieroglyphics, science
of
correspondences, the nature of unconscious motivation
in human affairs, and still others--see (AC
throughout);
* Psychology and neurophysiology, especially the
detailed working of the mind/body interaction,
including the unobservable elements and components of brain cells, their respiration,
and their
initiation of activity through the will
and the understanding. Also, the relation between the cerebellum
and the affective domain, on the one hand, and on the other, the relation between
the cerebral
cortex and the cognitive domain. Also
included, are many psychological revelations about
relationships, marriage, and life's developmental phases, including language,
thought, memory, and
reasoning--see (DLW; CL ;
TCR);
* Physics and chemistry, such as the impossibility
of a vacuum (see below), or the description of the
inner structure of objects in terms of three degrees of discontinuity analogous
to the universal law
that applies without exception
to every single phenomenon, object, process, or functional quality:
* I) Its essence, origin, source, purpose, or first
end
* II) Its form, cause, structure, or composition
* III) Its effect, resultant, outcome, or usability
CL 329. After the Chief Teacher and the rest
had left me, some boys who also had been
in the gymnastic sport followed me home and there, for a time, stood by me while
I was
writing. And lo, they saw a cockroach
running over my paper and asked in surprise,
"What is that little creature which runs so fast?" I said, "It
is called a cockroach, and I will
tell you
marvels about it." I then said: "In that living creature, small as
it is, there are as
many members and viscera
as in a camel. It has brains, hearts, pulmonary tubes, organs of
sense, of motion, and of generation, a stomach, intestines, and many other things;
and
each of them is a contexture of fiber,
nerves, blood-vessels, muscles, tendons,
membranes; and each of these a contexture of things still purer which lie deeply
hidden
beyond the reach of any eye."
[2] The boys then said that to them this little
living thing seemed nothing more than a
simple
substance. To this I said: "Nevertheless, there are innumerable things
within it. I tell
you this, that you may
know that it is the same in every object which appears before you
as a one, a simple, a mite. It is the same also in your actions, affections,
and thoughts. I
can assure you that every
grain of your thought, and every drop of your affection is
divisible to infinity, and that so far as your ideas are divisible you are wise.
Know then,
that everything divided is more
and more multiple, and not more and more simple; for
when divided again and again, it approaches nearer and nearer to the infinite
in which are
all things infinitely. This
that I tell you is something new and never before
heard of."
[3] After I had said this, the boys went from
me to the Chief Teacher and asked him if, in
the gymnasium, he would at some time propose as a problem something new and
unheard
of. He asked, "What?" They
said: "That everything divided is more and more multiple and
not more and more simple, because it approaches nearer and nearer to the Infinite
in
which are all things infinitely."
He promised to propose it, and said: "I see this because I
have perceived that a single natural idea is the containant of innumerable spiritual
ideas;
yea, that a single spiritual idea
is the containant of innumerable celestial ideas. Hence the
distinction between celestial wisdom, in which are the angels of the third heaven,
and
spiritual wisdom in which are the angels
of the second heaven; and also between [the
latter and] natural wisdom in which are the angels of the ultimate heaven and
also men."
Every object in the natural world, whether planet or gene, exists within
these three discontinuous but related
planes of existence. This is indeed
a major new scientific revelation which could not be discovered merely
through
observational data, as was also the case with gravity, quantum, the speed of
light, and hypothetical or
posited particles, all of which were arrived
at through calculations and inferences, not direct observation. The
new
revelation that the cause of an event in "successive degrees" is still
"within" the effect in "simultaneous
degrees" opens
a new era in science, preparing the way for the future dualism. As Swedenborg
pointed out,
one of the implications of this shift in paradigm is that most
of what scientists today call cause-effect relations
are actually effect-effect
correlations.
To give but one illustration: the cause of the car speeding up is not the
greater rate of fuel combustion, these
two being merely correlations of
effects; instead, the cause of the car going faster is the driver's intention
of
going faster. These three are not in a continuous relation: the driver's
intention is in a different plane of the
universe than the mechanically
built-in relation between gas pedal and combustion engine. In the new paradigm
of dualist science, these events, which today are considered separately
by physics and psychology, will be
integrated into a dualist theory of events
that integrates human intentions or functions with physical properties of
phenomena.
Swedenborg's dualist science is anthropomorphic, as indicated by these additional
scientific
revelations:
* the shape of the universe is not spherical but
humanoid, as visually witnessed by Swedenborg
when,
by Divine Providence, he was taken to an outside position to look at it;
* the universe contains two suns, that in the spiritual
world forming and generating all those in the
natural
world on a successive basis; further, after generating them, remaining "within"
them on a
simultaneous basis, and directing them
from that position continuously, synchronously, and
ceaselessly;
* events in the natural universe are totally constricted
within limits imposed by events in the spiritual
world, the latter being "within" the former as cause is "within"
effect in simultaneous degrees of
existence;
* randomness (or chance) and evolutionary patterns
such as selection and adaptation, are in reality
non-random but totally determined by humanoid purposes involving love, good,
value, wisdom,
morality, truth, justice, usefulness,
and their opposites or corruption's. For instance, the variety and
evolution of animal forms parallel and are constrained by the variety and hierarchical
structure of
human affections, emotions, and sentiments.
Every species and genus, every homological structure,
every biochemical process is constrained by and parallels exactly the taxonomy
of the human mind--
its affections, thoughts, and
sensations built up into selves within cultures through personality and
society. Nature is a theater of the spiritual: Swedenborg gives this principle
a scientific basis.
SPIRITUAL REVELATIONS
These include:
* The inner structure of the Trinity as three aspects
of the one Divine Person known variously as
Father,
Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah-God;
* The developmental phases of the Divine dispensations
over history, or the history of churches from
beginning
of time to the unending future;
* The spiritual meaning of the Bible and the method
of correspondences by which this meaning can
be
extracted, formed into Doctrine that then serves as the basis of one's regeneration
(or
preparation for heavenly life);
* The nature of one's life in heaven or eternity,
and in hell, revealed in great detail through his
journeys and conversations in the spiritual world;
* The methods of regeneration we must follow in
order to prepare for heavenly life, how we must live
our daily lives in orderly obedience to God through religion and conscience.
Thus we choose
heavenly or hellish life in eternity
by our cumulative choices which form our permanent inner
character as a spirit.
HOW SWEDENBORG HAS BEEN PORTRAYED
It is obvious from this brief listing that Swedenborg
represents a unique case in the
history of writers
and that no one has ever come forth to claim what he has claimed and
achieved as a scientist and revelator. These amazing claims and treatises would
have
been totally ignored by Europe's 18th and
19th century intelligentsia had they not had
solid,
incontrovertible internal merit. Here is a partial list of European and American
writers
who have publicly acknowledged their admiration
of Swedenborg's writings not as a
madman's psychosis,
but as intellectually valuable, convincing, and unique:
John Bigelow, William
Blake, Robert and Elisabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Carlyle,
Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Coleridge, Ralph Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert
Frost,
Henry James,
the Elder, Carl Jung, Immanuel Kant, Helen Keller, Czeslaw Milosz,
James Moffat, John Oberlin, Ezra Pound, Sundar Singh, August Strindberg, Daisetz
Suzuki, Henry Thoreau,
Alfred R. Wallace, John Wesley, Colin Wilson. (Swedenborg
Foundation, 1984)
Not all of these contacts with Swedenborgian thinking
were entirely positive (Brock et. al., 1988).
Although
William James edited his father's papers on Swedenborg for posthumous publication,
there occur only two or three passing reference
to Swedenborgianism in William James' own works
(Taylor, 1997). Contemporary study of Swedenborg's thought is carried out by
a small active
following that, generation after
generation, continues to publish his works and produce updated
translations and collateral interpretations; see also Brock et. al., 1988. As
Jane Williams-Hogan
points out, Swedenborg did
not have a personal following like all the other "mystics" who founded
a
new religious group in the past two centuries.
His Writings constitute a written revelation and are
characterized by the intellectual requirements of such a cultural-religious
instrument which she calls
"a new form of
charisma with its own structure or order and its own pattern of development":
Charisma must meet
us where we are and speak to who we are. In traditional societies,
charisma is located in shamans and prophets; in modern societies, I theorize
that it
appears in
text. What to us is extraordinary can be appreciated and responded to when
presented in the rational form of the charismatic book.
Rational and critical
people must be addressed in rational and critical forms. They need
to explore in freedom. That critical intellectual freedom into which we are
socialized in
this
age is most satisfactorily engaged when privately reading text (Jane
Williams-Hogan , p.2).
Contemporary encyclopedias generally carry entries
on Swedenborg and universally acknowledge
his broad
intellectual influence. An authoritative catalogue of Swedenborg's writings
lists over 200
titles (Tafel, 1875) and the current
complete set of Swedenborg's works in English contains 57
volumes (Swedenborg Foundation). Most public and academic libraries in the U.S.
appear to have
one or more books by Swedenborg.
In a well known biography of Swedenborg and his writings,
Trobridge ends his discussion on "spiritual philosophy" with this
conclusion:
The principles that
Swedenborg has elucidated have a very wide bearing; they are
applicable, indeed, to all the great subjects that have exercised the human
mind from
time immemorial.
A new light is thrown upon all of these problems and a new order is
brought into the region of philosophic inquiry. (Trobridge, 1976, 134 ).
The entry on Swedenborg in The New Encyclopedia
Britannica (1993) describes him as a
"Swedish
scientist, Christian mystic, philosopher, and theologian who wrote voluminously
in
interpreting the Scriptures as the immediate
word of God." Swedenborg is described as a
precursor of key modern concepts involving the structure of the atom, the formation
of planets, the
nebular theory, and the localization
of mental processes in the right and left hemispheres of the
brain. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967) describes Swedenborg as a "scientist,
Biblical
scholar, and mystic" and ties him
to rationalists like Descartes, Leibniz, Christian Wolff,
Malebranche, and empiricists like Locke. In the classical vein, Swedenborg is
dubbed both
Aristotelian and Neoplatonic. There
is no entry for Swedenborg in the International Encyclopedia of
the Social Sciences (1968) and in the Encyclopedia Judaica (1973).
The Encyclopedia of Religion (1987) qualifies Swedenborg
as "Swedish scientist and mystic" who
"reported on what he had heard and seen in his supernatural experiences."
It mentions
Swedenborg's doctrine of correspondences
which was referred to as "a vision of the truth hidden by
the confusion of sense data and everyday language" by "many of the
greatest poets of Western
literature, particularly
in the Romantic and Symbolic traditions." The most extensive entry on
Swedenborg was found in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
(1957).
This comprehensive article covers Swedenborg's
call to his mission as revelator, his subsequent
intromission into the spiritual world while continuing his professional duties
as a government mining
engineer and legislator,
as well as Kant's concealment of his indebtedness to Swedenborg's ideas.
The article also discusses the sequence and content of Swedenborg's major works.
In contrast to
this sympathetic coverage, the New
Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) ends its brief article on
Swedenborg with the suggestion that "his visions were manifestations of
a mental disease
(paranoia), subconsciously developed
to confirm the theories that he had already worked out." Still,
there is the recognition that "his influence, however, has been considerable,
affecting particularly the
philosophy and literature
of the Romanticists, and the development of the psychical sciences." An
extensive bibliography of Swedenborg's writings
will be found in Brock et.al., 1988.
The great paradox of Swedenborg is that his writings
have had such an enduring and deep
influence on
American and Western thought, and yet he is not directly cited in the professional
literature of science, theology, philosophy, and
psychology (Taylor, 1997), despite the fact that
well-known mainstream psychologists like William James (through his father,
Henry James, Sr.),
Gordon Allport, and Henry Murray,
were deeply involved with Swedenborg according to Taylor.
There undoubtedly exists a reluctance on the part of writers to cite Swedenborg
openly. Kirven
(1988) and Zwink (1988) have examined
the reasons why Kant, Goethe, Schelling, and writers in
the 19th century German Southwest, have avoided direct citations to Swedenborg
in their published
works, though they have acknowledged
his influence in indirect allusions and in private letters or
comments to friends.
Famed Zen master Daisetz Suzuki (1996), who translated
some of Swedenborg's books into
Japanese, attributes
Swedenborg's obscurity to the fact that he provides too many details about
what he has 'seen and heard' in heaven and hell (cited in Nagashima, 1993).
He felt that
Swedenborg's theology would be more
acceptable to the intelligentsia if he had provided fewer
details about life in the afterlife. Famed transcendentalist and theologian
Emerson, chose
Swedenborg as one of his Representative
Men in science and history and was deeply influenced by
the description of correspondences between natural phenomena in the physical
environment and
spiritual phenomena in the mind.
Despite this Emerson could not get past the simplistic narrative
descriptions Swedenborg had of his heavenly travels and conversations with angels.
To Emerson's
desire for more sophisticated conceptions
of the spiritual, Swedenborg's childlike quality of angels'
wisdom and conceptions was ultimately unbelievable.
Contemporary scientists understandably hesitate
to refer to a writer who makes claims such as this,
about the origin of his knowledge:
I sacredly attest
that I have been intromitted into the Kingdom of God by Messiah
Himself, Jesus of Nazareth, and have there spoken with heavenly Genii, with
Spirits, with
the
dead who have risen again, yea with those who called themselves Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Esau, Rebecca,
Moses, Aaron, and the Apostles, especially Paul and James;
and this now through a period of eight months... (Adversaria 475, cited by Potts,
Vol. VI,
p. 114).
Years later, towards
the end of his long career, Swedenborg states that his intromission
into dual life is the greatest miracle in human history and has not been granted
by God
to anyone
before. The Lord's purpose for this new revelation is to bring on His long
promised Second Advent, a process which is to be accomplished through and in
the
writings of Swedenborg,
the appointed revelator. He writes:
As it has been granted
me by the Lord to be in the Spiritual World and in the natural
world at the same time, and therefore to speak with Angels as with men...for
I have
spoken with
all my relations and friends, and likewise with kings and dukes, as also with
learned men, who
have met their fate; and this now continually for twenty-seven years, I
am able to describe from living experience the states of men after death..."
(TCR, 281)
EVALUATING SWEDENBORG
Talbot (1995) starts with the question of how one
knows whether someone is telling the truth or not.
Specifically, How do you know that this man Swedenborg was sane or truthful.
So he masterfully
elaborates the various logical
steps we must consider, or conditions that must be met in order for a
reasonable person to conclude that Swedenborg was sane and truthful. This argument
had to be
made, of course, in order to counteract
the psychiatric diagnosis of Swedenborg as just another
case of a man who has become insane, psychotic, delusional, or epileptic.
The most recent article, written by John Johnson
and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry
(1994) is barely 2 pages long and presents no believable evidence other than
repeating some
undocumented and highly disputed
hearsay claims made by one of Swedenborg's landlords in
London where he was lodging for awhile. The article makes no reference to Swedenborg's
contributions and achievements throughout his life
and does not refer to any of the biographies of
Swedenborg that discuss and refute the delusion diagnosis. No one who knows
anything about
Swedenborg would give any serious
attention to this type of historical psychiatric hype. Yet its
publication in a respectable professional journal is of some significance and
needs to be evaluated.
This type of global attack on Swedenborg's through
the insanity charge has had a long history in
Swedenborgian
literature, as ably documented in Talbot's rebuttal of Johnson's gratuitous
claims.
So rather than ask, as Talbot already has,
How do you know that this man Swedenborg was sane or
truthful?, let me formulate another question, namely, When do people ask how
you know that this
man Swedenborg was sane or truthful?
I will take up two conditions or motives that bring people to
ask this question. I encountered these motives in my own history of becoming
a Swedenborgian
scientist in middle age, when my
academic and scientific career as a psychologist and social
scientist was at its peak.
At age 43 I had been a full professor for a decade
and had garnered a long list of publications and
government research grants in my specialty field of psycholinguistics and cognitive
science. That
year in 1981 I was browsing one day
in our University of Hawaii library in the BS and BX category
looking for a Bible commentary we could take home (I was with my wife). At one
point we saw
several shelves of books in one edition,
all authored by Emanuel Swedenborg. I recognized the
name from a comment I had read in one of Rudolf Steiner's magazine articles.
All I could remember
was that Steiner called Swedenborg
a mad genius and I had made a mental note to look him up
some day. I had not expected his books to be in the Bible exegesis category,
but I was delighted at
the double opportunity and
took home my first Swedenborg volume of what later I came to know
fondly as "the Writings."
RESISTANCE TO SWEDENBORG
My wife and I spent hours every evening reading
volume after volume in this astonishing series of
revelations. Our perspective on everything was fundamentally changed-- on religion,
on science, on
nature, on life, on death. It was
during this time that I ran into the two types of situations in which I
was asked by someone How do I know that Swedenborg is sane and truthful? I thus
became
empirically aware of two types of resistances
to the revelations in the Writings of Swedenborg: first,
from family and friends; second, from scientists and theologians. The first
type of resistance may be
called informal or commonsensical;
the second type, formal or doctrinal.
Common sense dictates that we be wary of grandiose
and delusional claims other people may
make. It
is useful to adopt a "negative bias" as reflected in, "Why should
I believe these fantastic
claims?" Note however
that this is in the form of a question, thus indicating one is willing to at
least
listen to the argument and evidence if any.
The informal, common sense stance is less rigid than the
formal, doctrinal stance, which operates by excluding in advance anything that
is not already in
agreement with the primary assumptions
and proposals.
Commonsensical and doctrinal resistance to Swedenborg
are purely external to the Writings. From
this
external perspective people may see my involvement with Swedenborg as gullibility
or
intellectual affectation for the occult or unusual.
However these attitudes and judgments reflect on the
people who have them, and leave untouched any examination of the merit of Swedenborg's
proposals and revelations. It is important to see
that Swedenborg cannot be treated as an ordinary
case. Swedenborgians do not ordinarily question the standard basis of psychiatric
medicine and
diagnosis. Thus, if an adolescent
in a Swedenborgian family in say Bryn Athyn, PA, a suburb of
Philadelphia where thousands of such families live today, should suddenly start
claiming that he
talks to spirits and travels to
heaven and hell on a recurrent basis, and speaks to spirits from other
planets, the Swedenborgian parents would surely take the adolescent to a psychiatrist
and may
admit the diagnosis of mental illness.
Looking at Swedenborg as an ordinary case history
almost certainly forces a psychiatrist to a
diagnosis
of mania or psychosis of some sort. It's only when we remove Swedenborg from
the
ordinary case scenario, and categorize him
as historically unique and special, that the psychiatric
diagnosis can be lifted as inappropriate or inapplicable. This cannot be done
from an external
perspective because psychiatrists
would have no warrant or opportunity to lift the applicability of the
standard diagnosis. But from an inner perspective, which critically and analytically
examines the
writings as a scientific proposal,
it is possible to confirm that Swedenborg is a unique case
requiring a paradigm shift.
The process will soon begin whereby scientists will
be examining Swedenborg's writings as
scientific
proposals, and from this inner perspective, a judgment will arise which I predict
will be
positive and will fundamentally alter science
and its theory and method. As a scientist and
behaviorist
within scientific psychology, I have made such an examination of Swedenborg's
writings
and have seen their fundamental merit.
It has influenced my subsequent scientific research and
theory, and has led me to attempt some of the conceptual translation process
that is required to
bridge the gap between the
18th century and the 21st.
IS SWEDENBORG'S DUALISM SCIENTIFIC?
Contemporary scientists are by training oriented
to empiricism, that is, to a mutual agreement that
hypotheses, theories, and explanations are to be confirmed by data obtained
through an approved
scientific methodology. Scientific
disciplines differ in detail regarding what is considered
"approved" methodologies. However, there are general, cross-disciplinary
agreements which is
based in the logic of experimentalism
and research design. These principles are transmitted
formally to new scientists, so that graduate students in any discipline that
wants to be recognized as
scientific, cannot obtain
their Ph.D. degree without proving their understanding of these principles in
required examinations and in the doing of research
that conforms to these principles.
What today's scientists acquire by routine training,
eighteenth century contemporaries of
Swedenborg
had to acquire by intellectual genius and leadership. It was the genius of Descartes,
Leibniz, Wolff, Hume, Locke, Swedenborg, Newton,
and Kant, among the well known early figures,
who
engineered the basis of our modern scientific intellectual structure upon which
we have relied to
build a rapidly evolving modern
society. Swedenborg was obsessively concerned with rationality
and empiricism. This is evident in both his Philosophical Works and his Theological
Writings. He
was extremely careful to use only
rational appeals and he insisted that all rational accounts can and
should be confirmed with empirical facts or observations.
In many instances he describes experimental manipulations
of conditions to produce a predicted
effect, emphasizing
that without these factual, sensual, empirical observations or confirmations,
the
human mind does not give interior assent to
anything. In other words, the modern mind can only
accept an account of God that is rational and can be empirically confirmed.
This idea is known in
New Church circles as "Nunc
Licet," which is Latin for "Now it is permitted" and represents
an
inscription Swedenborg saw in the spiritual
world on a temple gate that contained the Word of the
Second Coming (see TCR 508).
Here are a few passages that show Swedenborg's orientation
toward empirical confirmations. The
relevant specific
phrase is bolded.
A certain person was
let into that dark cloud where the infernals are, IN ORDER THAT
HE MIGHT KNOW how the case is with those who are there; he being protected by
the
Lord by means
of angels. Speaking from thence with me he said that there was there so
great a rage of insanity against good and truth, and especially against the
Lord, that be
was
amazed that it could possibly be resisted; for the Infernals breathed nothing
but
hatred, revenge,
and slaughter, with such violence that they desired to destroy all in the
universe; so that unless this rage was continually repelled by the Lord, the
whole human
race
would perish. (AC 3340)
It has been given
me to know FROM MUCH EXPERIENCE that in the natural world and
its three kingdoms there is nothing whatever that does not represent something
in the
spiritual
world, or that has not something there to which it corresponds. Besides many
other experiences,
THIS WAS MADE EVIDENT also from the following. On several
occasions when I was speaking of the viscera of the body, and was tracing their
connection from those
which are of the head to those which are of the chest, and so on
to those which are of the abdomen, the angels that were above me led my thoughts
through the spiritual
things to which those viscera correspond, and this SO THAT
THERE WAS NOT THE LEAST ERROR. They thought not at all of the viscera of the
body of which I was
thinking, but only of the spiritual things to which these correspond.
Such is the intelligence of angels that from spiritual things they know all
things in the
body
in general and particular, even the most secret things, such as can never come
to
man's knowledge;
nay, they know everything there is in the universal world, without a
mistake; and this because from spiritual things are the causes, and the beginnings
of
causes. (AC 2992)
That the Word in the
letter stores up such things within it, is often presented to the sight
of the spirits or souls who come into the other life; and it has sometimes been
granted
me to be
present when this was done, as may be seen from the experiences adduced in
the first part of this work concerning the Holy Scripture or Word, as containing
things
Divine which
are manifest to good spirits and angels (n. 1767- 1776, and 1869-1879);
from which experiences I may for the sake of confirmation again relate what
now follows.
(AC
3473)
Nevertheless all these
means have been disclosed in the internal sense of the Word,
and ARE MANIFEST BEFORE THOSE WHO are in that sense, thus before the angels,
who SEE AND PERCEIVE
innumerable things on this subject, of which scarcely one
can be unfolded and explained in a manner suited to the apprehension of man.
[3] But
FROM EFFECTS
AND THE SIGNS THEREOF IT IS IN SOME MEASURE MANIFEST
TO MAN HOW THE CASE IS WITH this conjunction for the rational mind (that is,
man's
interior will
and understanding) ought to represent itself in the natural mind just as this
mind represents itself
in the face and its expressions, insomuch that as the face is the
countenance of the natural man, so the natural mind should be the countenance
of the
rational mind.
(AC 3573)
It was also once SHOWN
ME TO THE LIFE what societies they are, and of what quality,
and how they flow in and act, which constitute the province of the face, and
flow into the
muscles
of the forehead, of the cheeks, of the chin, and of the neck, and what
communication there is between them. IN ORDER THAT THIS MIGHT BE
PRESENTED TO LIFE, it was allowed them by means of influx and in various ways
to
present the appearance
of a face. IN LIKE MANNER IT WAS SHOWN what societies,
and of what quality, flow into the lips, into the tongue, into the eyes, and
into the ears and
IT WAS ALSO GIVEN TO SPEAK WITH THEM, and thus to be fully instructed. IN THIS
WAY IT WAS MADE EVIDENT
that all who come into heaven are organs or members
of the Grand Man; and also that heaven is never shut, but that the greater its
numbers
the stronger
is the endeavor, the stronger the force, and the stronger the action; and
further, that the heaven of the Lord is immeasurable, so immeasurable as to
exceed all
belief;
the inhabitants of this earth being very few in comparison, and almost as a
pool
compared with
the ocean. (AC 3631)
3216. IN ORDER THAT
IT MAY BE STILL BETTER KNOWN HOW THE CASE IS WITH
representatives in the other life, that is, with those things which appear in
the world of
spirits,
take some further examples. When the angels are speaking about the doctrinal
things of charity
and faith, then sometimes in a lower sphere, where there is a
corresponding society of spirits, THERE APPEARS THE FORM OR PATTERN of a city
or cities, with palaces
therein exhibiting such skill in architecture as is amazing, so that
you would say that the very art itself was there in its native home; not to
mention houses
of
varied aspect; and wonderful to say in all these objects both in general and
in
particular there
is not the smallest point, or visible atom, that does not represent
something of the angelic idea and speech: SO THAT IT IS EVIDENT what innumerable
things are contained
in these; and also what is signified by the cities seen by the
prophets in the Word; and likewise what by the holy city or New Jerusalem; and
what by
the cities
in the prophetic Word; namely, the doctrinal things of charity and faith (n.
402,
2449). (AC 3216)
But I know that these
are arcana too deep to fall within apprehension; and this as before
said for the reason that they are things unknown; but as the internal sense
describes
them, and
this as to all their circumstances, they must needs be set forth, no matter
how
much they may
appear to be above the apprehension. At the very least IT MAY IN THIS
WAY BE SEEN what great arcana there are in the internal sense of the Word; also
that
the arcana are
such as scarcely to be seen in the light of the world, in which man is
during his life in the body, but that THEY ALWAYS APPEAR MORE DISTINCTLY AND
CLEARLY in proportion
as man comes from the light of the world into the light of
heaven, into which he comes after death; thus into the light in which blessed
and happy
souls are,
that is, the angels. (AC 3086)
WHO COULD KNOW, except
from an interior searching of the Word, and at the same
time from revelation, that these words, "Laban ran out of doors unto the
man, unto the
fountain,"
signify the desire of the affection of good toward the truth that was to be
initiated into truth
Divine? And yet THIS IS WHAT THE ANGELS PERCEIVE when
these words are read by man; for such are the correspondences between a man's
ideas
and an angel's
that while the man takes these words according to the sense of the letter,
and has the idea of Laban as running out of doors to the man unto the fountain,
the angel
perceives
the desire of the affection of good toward the truth which was to be initiated
into truth Divine.
For the angels have no idea of Laban, nor of running, nor of a fountain,
but they have spiritual ideas corresponding to these. That THERE IS SUCH A
CORRESPONDENCE OF ACTUAL THINGS, and thence of ideas, natural and spiritual,
may be seen from
what was said above concerning correspondences (see n. 1563,
1568, 2763, 2987-3003, 3021). (AC 3131)
[2] That there can
be no conjunction of falsity with good, or of truth with evil, but only of
falsity with evil, and of truth with good, IT HAS BEEN GIVEN ME TO PERCEIVE
TO
THE LIFE; AND
I HAVE PERCEIVED THAT the case is as follows: When a man has
the affection of good, that is, when he wills good from the heart, then whenever
anything
is to be
thought of that is to be willed and done, his good willing flows into his thinking,
and there it applies
itself to the knowledges which are there, and joins itself with them as
its recipient vessels, and by this conjunction impels him so to think, to will,
and to act.
(AC 3033)
[3] In the other life
such persons (however much in this life they may have seemed to be
more highly instructed than others) are more stupid than others and so far as
they are in
the persuasion
that they are in truth, THEY INDUCE thick darkness on others. SUCH
HAVE AT TIMES BEEN WITH ME; but they were not susceptible of any affection of
good from truth,
HOWSOEVER THE TRUTHS WERE RECALLED TO THEIR MIND
which they had known in the life of the body; for evil was with them, with which
truths
COULD NOT
BE CONJOINED. Neither can such persons be in the company of the
good; but if there is anything of natural good with them, they are vastated
even till they
know
nothing of truth; and THEN THERE IS INSINUATED into the remaining good
something of truth, as much as the little remaining good can receive. But they
who have
been in
the affection of good from the heart, ARE ABLE TO RECEIVE all truth in
accordance with the amount and the quality of the good that has been with them.
(AC
3033)
To the above I will
add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS. First: After the problem
concerning the soul had been discussed and solved in the gymnasium [no. 315],
I SAW
the audience
going out in procession, the Chief Teacher in front, after him the elders in
whose midst were
the five young men who had given the answers and then the rest.
Coming out, they withdrew to the sides of the house where were walks bordered
by
shrubs. Gathering
there, they separated into small groups which were so many
companies of young men conversing together on matters of wisdom. In each group
was
one of the wise
men from the balcony. SEEING THEM from my lodging, I became IN
THE SPIRIT, and GOING TO THEM in the spirit, approached the Chief Teacher who
lately had proposed
the question concerning the soul. When he saw me, he said: "Who
are you? WHEN I SAW YOU coming on the road, it surprised me that you now came
into my sight and
now passed out of it; that is, at one moment you were visible to me
and suddenly became invisible. You certainly are not in our state of life.
"To this I answered,
smiling, "I am not a player of tricks, or a Vertumnus, but am by turns,
now in your light,
now in your shade, and thus a sojourner and also a native."
At this, the Chief
Teacher looked at me and said, "You speak [2] things strange and
wonderful. Tell me who you are." I then said: "I am in the world called
the natural world, in
which you were and from which you have departed; and I am also in the world
into which
you came
and in which you now are, which is called the spiritual world. Thus it is, that
I
AM IN A NATURAL
STATE AND AT THE SAME TIME IN A SPIRITUAL, being in a
natural state with men on earth, and in a spiritual state with you. WHEN IN
A NATURAL
STATE,
I AM NOT VISIBLE TO YOU, but when in a spiritual state I am visible. My being
of this nature has
been granted me by the Lord. To you, enlightened man, it is known
that a man of the natural world does not see a man of the spiritual world, or
the reverse.
Therefore,
when I let my spirit down into the body I was not visible to you, but when I
sent
it out of the
body I was visible. (CL 326)
477. To the above
shall be added the following MEMORABLE RELATION: (...) [3] An
angel, looking down from heaven, HEARD THESE WORDS, and in order that the young
man might go no further
in profaning marriages, he interrupted him and said, "Come up
hither and I WILL SHOW YOU IN A LIVING WAY what heaven is, and what hell and
the
nature of the
hell for confirmed whoremongers."
He then showed him
the way, and the young man went up. After being received, he was
led first into a paradisal garden where were fruit-trees and flowers which from
their
beauty, pleasantness
and fragrance filled the animus of all with the delights of life.
Seeing these, he expressed his great admiration; but he was then in the external
sight in
which he
had been when seeing like things in the world. In this sight he was rational,
but
in his internal
sight, wherein whoredom played the chief role and occupied every least
thought, he was not rational.
THEREFORE HIS EXTERNAL
SIGHT WAS CLOSED and his internal sight opened.
With this opened, he said, "WHAT DO I SEE NOW? is it not straw and sticks
of wood?
And what
do I smell now? are they not bad smells? Where now are the things of
paradise?" The angel said: "They are near by and at hand, but THEY
DO NOT APPEAR
BEFORE
YOUR INTERNAL SIGHT which is scortatory, for that sight turns heavenly
things into infernal, seeing only their opposites. Every man has an internal
mind and an
external,
and so an internal sight and an external. With the evil, the internal mind is
insane, and the external
wise, while with the good, the internal is wise and from this the
external also; and in the spiritual world a man sees objects according to the
nature of his
mind."
[4] FROM POWER GIVEN
HIM, the angel then CLOSED THE YOUNG MAN'S
INTERNAL SIGHT and opened his external. He then led him through the gates towards
the center of the
dwellings. There he saw magnificent palaces of alabaster, marble, and
various precious stones, and beside them porticos, and columns round about,
overlaid
and encompassed
with stupendous insignia and adornments. On seeing these, he was
amazed and said, "What do I see? I see magnificent things in their true
magnificence,
and
architecture in its true art."
Thereupon the angel
AGAIN CLOSED HIS EXTERNAL SIGHT and opened his internal
sight, which was evil, being filthily scortatory. Wan this was done, he cried
out, saying,
"WHAT
DO I SEE NOW? Where am I? Where now are the palaces? and the
magnificent things? I see heaps, ruins, and places full of holes!"
After this (...) his
internal sight was opened AND THE EXTERNAL CLOSED AS
BEFORE, and being asked what he saw now, he replied, "Nothing but walls,
here of
rushes, there
of straw, and yonder of fire-brands."
HE WAS THEN BROUGHT
ONCE MORE INTO HIS EXTERNAL STATE OF MIND, [6]
and maidens who were beauties, being images of heavenly affection, were brought
to
him and addressed
him with the sweet voice of their affection. On seeing and hearing
them, his face changed and he returned of himself to his internals which were
scortatory;
and because
these cannot endure anything of heavenly love and, on the other hand,
cannot be endured by heavenly love, THEY BOTH VANISHED, the maidens from the
sight of the man,
and the man from the sight of the maidens.
(...) Know, however,
that with every one in this world, his externals [8] are successively
closed and his internals opened. In this way they are prepared for heaven or
for hell. And
because
the evil of whoredom defiles the internals of the mind more than any other evil,
you must needs be
brought down to the filthy things of your own love, and these are in
hells where the caverns stink of excrement. WHO CANNOT KNOW FROM REASON
that in the spiritual world, what is unchaste and lascivious is impure and unclean,
and
thus that there
is nothing which more pollutes and defiles a man and induces on him
what is infernal. Take care, therefore, that you glory no more in your whoredom
that
therein you
are a masculine man above others. I PREDICT THAT YOU WILL BECOME
so feeble that you will scarcely know where your masculinity is. Such is the
lot that awaits
those
who glory in the potency of whoredom."
After hearing this,
the young man descended and returned to the world of spirits and to
his former companions. He then spoke with them modestly and chastely, yet not
for long.
(CL 477)
Numerous more examples can be found that show Swedenborg's
empirical orientation through and
through, his
continuous effort in never asking the reader to believe by auhoritativeness
or blind belief
from a trusting attitude. He understood
and taught that nothing can be accepted in an interior way
but that which is freely seen as true from one's own perspective, knowledge,
and understanding.
Hence his persistent effort
in casting EVERY principle or concept into a rational mode that
examines theoretical propositions in the light of empirical confirmations. Any
account or explanation
about God's Divine operations
on the planet, such as those systematically laid out in his Work titled
Divine Providence (DP), are worthless unless they can be empirically confirmed
by the reader. This
confirmation process is thus
inevitable and at the center of Swedenborg's description of
regeneration and character change. Hence he spends so much text carefully presenting
the
scientific facts that knowledgeable persons
can confirm, and thus come to freely accept the rational
explanation of spiritual principles and facts.
The exclusion of Swedenborg from most, if not all,
scientific disciplines is not due to his lack of
empiricism. This fact cannot be stressed too strongly. Swedenborg is excluded
by the attitude and
commitment to monism (materialism)
and atheism (secular humanism), not lack of empiricism.
Such a single-minded commitment AUTOMATICALLY and without consideration excludes
Swedenborg who has made scientific dualism a central
aspect of his orientation. The major
empiricists
in the history of modern science, like Hobbes, Descartes, Leibniz, Newton, Darwin,
and
Einstein, who acknowledged nature as a work
of God, who then removed Himself from the equation,
"Watching us from a distance" as a recent popular song says. But Swedenborg
refused to be a
weekday scientist, and felt compelled
by sincerity and consistency, to integrate the weekday
science and the Sunday deity. This integration was achieved by developing the
dualist position,
which was, that there exist two
substances, one natural, and the other spiritual within the natural, but
not in time and space). His works are about the scientific and empirical details
of this proposition.
A recent article titled "Toward a Science of
Experience" by A. Kukla appeared in The Journal of
Mind and Behavior (Spring 1983). It presents a re-evaluation of the legitimacy
of introspective
evidence in scientific psychology
and concludes that the usual private/public distinction behaviorists
make, is not logically tenable because both types of data fulfill the requirements
of objectivity:
-- terms must refer
to events
-- events
must be publicly observable
-- explanations must be verifiable by events
-- concepts must apply to a class of observations or properties
-- observations must have inter-subjective agreement when conditions are met
-- experimental manipulation
of known conditions must produce predictable results
It is remarkable that all of Swedenborg's writings
fully meet these six requirements for scientific
objectivity. The quotations presented just above in this section clearly show
this, especially in the
bolded phrases that show
his empiricism. Swedenborg always defined his terms precisely where
others started being vague. Numerous people have written about spirituality,
about the afterlife,
about heaven and hell, about
the subconscious mind, about sin and regeneration, about life on other
planets, about the past, present and future. Swedenborg is the only one, to
our knowledge, who has
combined all these areas,
has integrated them into one rational theory or account, and has
presented numerous empirical evidence to confirm them. In Swedenborg's writings
we find a
complete exposition of scientific dualism
and its empirical methodology.
Swedenborg does not appeal to unique capabilities
in presenting his experiences and
observations
"when in the spirit." Anyone who is brought into that mental state
can witness what
Swedenborg has reported. As shown
in the quotations immediately above, Swedenborg's
observations were social in nature, always involving other people. Anyone present
could objectively
perceive what Swedenborg observed
and reported. His witnessings, or testimony, are in that sense
public, not private. The fact that we can't place ourselves into that mental
state by our current level of
skills, is a technical
problem of methodology, to be solved in the future. In the meantime, his data
stand.
THE SIX MINIMAL PREMISES OF DUALIST SCIENCE
1. The existence of the dual sun
All scientific theories and models of phenomena
must include an account of the dual sun: the Sun of
the spiritual world and its atmospheres and geography, and the sun of the natural
world with its
atmospheres and land masses on planets,
replicated numberless times in sun-planet locations
throughout the natural world.
The dual sun is replicated in all parts thereof.
Thus, any object produced through the dual sun such
as a pebble or protein cell, will replicate within its structure the vertical
degrees of the dual sun. The
external structure
of the object will be visible or measurable through tools of the senses, such
as an
electronic microscope or an identifiable
biochemical reaction, but the internal structure produced by
the spiritual Sun will require spiritual detection devices, which are rational,
objective, and
confirmable by others.
The scientific account of phenomena, objects, and
properties include the dual sun when it shows
how
cause- effect relations are actually relations between the object's inner and
outer structure,
replicating the original cause-effect
relation between the Sun of the spiritual world and the sun of the
natural planetary system. The former produces the latter and is contained within
it synchronously.
Sequential cause-effect in production
or etiology is replicated in synchronous action between the
vertical degrees.
The dual sun creates its own atmospheres and geography
which Swedenborg describes in minute
detail. These
descriptions must be accepted as scientific revelations, that is, facts about
reality that
were unknown in science, and serve
to assist us in building a rational civilization that is in harmony
with spiritual reality, thus serving to improve the orderly evolution of society
and mind.
2. The existence
of vertical degrees
The cause, which precedes the effect, continues
its presence in the effect by remaining within its
interior and acting synchronously. Remove the cause within the synchronous effect,
and the effect
ceases to exist. Every natural phenomenon
that physics and biology has seen so far can now be
looked at again in this new paradigm. For instance: what is the cause of your
car accelerating when
the light turns green? It
is common to give a mechanical account as the cause in terms of
sequences involving gas pedal, fuel, combustion engine, axle, wheel, and tire
friction. In the new
dual paradigm, these sequences
would be correlated effects, while their cause lies in their interior
structure determined by the spiritual Sun, in this case, your intention as a
driver to speed up. This
human motive is the cause
of the acceleration and the acceleration continues to exist until this
spiritual cause is removed from its interior.
Similar, but more complex dual accounts will no
doubt be constructed for say, the action of hostile
bacteria on the spine in meningitis, or a catastrophic earthquake, or the diffusion
properties of light.
Many such dual scientific
accounts are found in Swedenborg throughout his voluminous writings,
both theological and pre-theological. The relationship between inner and outer
in vertical degrees is
called "correspondence."
When we consider the production phase of any object or process the
cause precedes the effect in time, thus the functional relation is asynchronous.
But when the
production phase is completed, and
the effect is fully in existence or operation, then the prior cause
enters and remains within the inner structure of the effect. Thus, cause and
effect operate
synchronously. As soon as the correspondential
coupling is interrupted, the effect ceases to exist.
For instance, the body is alive with integrated
biological operations as long as these natural effects
retain a functional connection with the soul, the spiritual organ responsible
for maintaining and
directing cell action. When
the physical organs and processes no longer respond to their inner
cause due to illness or mechanical injury, the soul together with the mind,
also called the spirit,
separates from its relation
to the body. At this point the natural body becomes a mere corpse,
quickly losing its human form and returning to its mineral form, while the spirit
now assumes its role
as the external body within
which is contained the mind or will and understanding. This is called the
afterlife in the spiritual world, or life in eternity.
Swedenborg has described this life with many details
that inform us on their geography,
government,
daily activities, philosophy, and knowledges. It is a dramatic social-psychological
life in
which people's inmost degree, the plane
of their feelings and intentions, produce as cause, the
outward effects in the ecology of the spirit such as location or co-presence
with others and quality of
the appearing surround
such as weather, vegetation, animal life, mood, and artistic style of visible
objects.
3. The existence of influx
Newton passed into the spiritual world in 1727 before
Swedenborg's sojourn and stay in London.
Later
however, the two men met in the spiritual world: "I spoke with Newton concerning
a vacuum,
and concerning colors." (LJ 265),
and he goes on regarding Newton's changed view on the concept
of vacuum:
When he had heard
these things, Newton said that before this he had desisted from that
idea, and he would desist from it hereafter; knowing that he is now in the spiritual
world,
in which,
nevertheless, according to his former idea, would have been his vacuum; and
that even now he
is a man, and therein he thinks, feels, acts, yea breathes, and this
could not take place in a vacuum which is nothing, but in something which is,
and from
Esse exists
and subsists, and that an interstitial nothing is impossible, because that
would be destructive of something, that is of essences and substances which
are
something. For
something and nothing are altogether opposites, even so that he was
horrified at the idea of nothing, and would beware of it, lest his mind fall
into a swoon.
(LJ
266)
Newton in the spiritual world has a new concept
of color, as described by Swedenborg:
Concerning colors
he said that in the world he had believed that they originated from the
substances, as it were, of different colored materials continually flowing forth
from the
solar ocean,
and adding themselves continually to like things in objects in the world,
likewise when they pass through pellucid objects following then the ways of
light,
according
to its diffractions and refractions, and proceeding as like to like, thus red
to
red, blue to blue,
yellow to yellow, and so on, as in prisms, crystalline globes, and vapors
whence come rainbows.
But the angels did
not acknowledge this cause of colors, saying that there are colors in
the spiritual world as well as in the natural world; and in the spiritual world
they are vivid,
splendid,
and variegated more than in the natural world, and that they know that they
are
variegations
of their light corresponding to their love or good, and to their wisdom or
truth, and that the sun from which their light proceeds, is the Lord Himself,
whose Divine
love
presents around Him the appearance of a sun, and the Divine wisdom therefrom
the appearance of
light, and that from that sun, which as was said, is pure love, no such
substances or matters flow forth, but that pure light presents to view variegations
of
colors in objects
according to the reception of wisdom by the angels the color red
according as their wisdom is derived from good, and the color bright white according
as
their wisdom is
derived from truth, and the rest as they partake of the defect and
absence of them, which there correspond to shade in the world.
Moreover the angels,
by their spiritual ideas, by which they are able to present and bring
forth the causes of things to the life and to full consent, demonstrated that
colors are
nothing
else than variegations of flamy light and bright white light, in objects according
to
their forms; and
that colors are not materials, so neither is light, because they
correspond to the love and wisdom of the angels, from whom they proceed by Divine
operation; and their
love and wisdom are not material but spiritual. Neither are heat and
light in the world material, but natural, and they inflow into matters, and
they modify
themselves
in them according to the arms of the parts. Therefore neither are colors
material, as they would be if they existed from different colored atoms. At
length from
some
indignation they said, "Who cannot see a paradox in the Newtonian cause,
yea
what is absurd?"
And they departed, saying they would return if he would discern
spiritually or even naturally concerning colors, and not so materially and sensually.
Then some spirits
approached, and said to him [Newton], "We entreat you to think of
colors not as originating from some small prism or from some wall, but from
the green
color of
all the woods and grassy fields of the whole world in which you were; can you
conceive of a continuous
efflux from the sun of a green color alone, and at the same time
an influx, and a continual restoration, likewise of a continual influx of gray
or stone color
into
the mountains of the whole earth, and so on? Can you then conceive of a continuous
ocean of green alone,
and of rock color alone? Tell us where they go, where they
subsist, do they proceed into the universe? Or do they fall downwards somewhere,
or
ascend upwards?
From these things perchance new earths exist, for they must be in
great abundance because they are material." After he thought of this thing
more deeply,
he said,
"Now I know that colors are modifications of light in objects, in the forms
of
which they make
general planes, upon which the light is variegated according to the
forms of the parts, whence are colors." These are the words of Newton himself,
which he
wishes me
to communicate. (LJ 267) And in another place he adds: Respecting the
planes of colors, he [Newton] spoke in this fashion: that there were three:
white from
light,
red from fire, and black from shade; and that all the varieties of colors arise
therefrom (SD 6064).
These accounts, and many others like it on the subject
of influx, reveal that light and its phenomena
of colors visible in the natural world are not material substances but spiritual.
In other words, visible
or measurable aspects of
light such as quanta, wavelength, and speed, are natural effects produced
by spiritual influx. Newton's self-conscious presence in the afterlife forces
him to modify his scientific
paradigm that is based
on vacuum, light, and motion as material forces and substances. By
acknowledging the dual sun, the continuity of cause effect as vertical degrees,
and the operation of
influx, Newton shows the way
our modern science can forge the new dualism.
4. The existence of vertical community
Before my mind was
opened, so that I could speak with spirits, and so be persuaded by
living experience; for many years previous, such proofs existed with me, that
I am now
astonished,
that yet I did not come into persuasion concerning the Lord's government,
through spirits. Not only were there dreams, for several years, informing me
concerning
those
things which were written, but there were, also, changes of state, when I wrote;
a
certain extraordinary
light in those things which were written. Afterwards, also, many
visions, when my eyes were closed, and light miraculously given; and spirits
sensibly
(flowed).
It was as manifest to perception (sensum) as the corporeal senses. Many
times (occurred infestations through various modes, by evil spirits, in temptations.
Then,
afterwards,
when those things were written to which evil spirits were averse, so that I
was so obsessed as
nearly to be overcome with horror (ita ut poene obsiderer ad
horrorem). Fiery lights were seen. Speech (loqueloe) in morning-time (was heard),
besides many other
things; until a certain spirit addressed me in a few words. I was
greatly astonished that he should perceive my thoughts, and afterwards wondered
greatly when (my
mind) was opened so that I could converse with spirits; in like manner
the spirit (was then surprised) that I should be astonished. From these things
it may be
concluded
with what difficulty man can be led to believe that he is ruled by the Lord
through spirits,
and with what difficulty he recedes from the opinion that he lives his own
life from himself, apart from spirits-1748, August 27." (SD 2951).
In terms of psychological impact, this scientific
revelation is the most dramatic and may have
extraordinary
influence on our civilization and self-conception as a human race. "Horizontal"
community can be used to discuss ethnic and cross-cultural
differences and similarities as we first
study
them in history, geography, government, social sciences and the humanities.
But "vertical"
community is a reference
to influx by correspondence of what people in the spiritual world feel and
think into what people on earth feel and think. This kind of influx has not
been described or even
suspected in the entire
history of science, let alone described in great detail as it is in Swedenborg.
Our thoughts and feelings vary moment to moment.
Psychology, psychiatry, cognitive science, and
neuroscience have all dealt with aspects of thinking and feeling, but no one
has proposed a full and
adequate explanation of
the source of this variation. In Swedenborg we now have the revealed
details of how and why thoughts and feelings we have vary and succeed one another
in highly
constrained ways not unlike linguistic
syntax constrains the form of the sentences we utter (DP 48;
49; 71).
Our thoughts and feelings are constrained and influenced
in two ways: immediate by the Divine and
mediate
by the Divine through the vertical community. Divine constraints exercised immediately
and
directly without intermediaries are described
by Swedenborg under the rubric of the Laws of Divine
Providence and the Laws of Divine Permissions. The Divine "permits"
certain departures or
modifications (corruptions;
adulteries) but only in so far as good can be brought out of them. The
Divine blocks or inhibits mental departures that are not of spiritual benefit
to anyone, actor or victim.
Though we have freedom
of choice and freedom of thought, it is not absolute but constrained within
limits that have been revealed.
Divine constraints are also exercised indirectly,
through intermediaries, along a vertical chain of
human beings by correspondence across vertical degrees. The Divine then acts
into the highest
plane of the mind and those who
dwell in that state called "celestial angels of the third heaven."
They
become conscious of the thoughts and feelings
whereupon these constrain by correspondence and
influx the thoughts and feelings of the plane immediately below it and those
who dwell in that state
called "spiritual
angels of the second heaven." The vertical chain of correspondence thus
descends
from the Divine through the entire range
of the vertical community from highest heaven to lowest hell.
Our thoughts and feelings while we are in the physical
body from the moment we take our first
breath at
birth (but not the fetus) to the moment we breath our last (coma or death) are
entirely
constrained by our spiritual associations
which we inherit and which we strengthen or weaken by
means of the decisions and choices we make and love. The vertical community
implies the
existence of a common unlearned universal
thought-language used by the entire race. It also implies
that thinking and feeling are social activities not individual. It's not possible
to think on your own.
Some spiritual society must
be in contact to provide influx from their mind to ours and without this
influx we cannot think-- we would "swoon" or be like in a coma.
Our thinking and feeling is a group phenomenon,
a community affair. The content between what we
think or feel and what the spiritual societies in contact think and feel, is
determined by
correspondence. These laws of correspondence,
known to the ancients but later forgotten, have
now been revealed again through Swedenborg. Surprise of surprises: these correspondences
are
embedded in Sacred Scriptures and in ordinary
language, such as the correspondences between
light
and truth, emotion or love and heat, water and truth, poison and sin, and many
less known ones
such as garden and intelligence,
snake and science, seed and intentions, the number 40 and
temptation, the number 3 and completion, and so on.
Swedenborg was able to instruct himself empirically
as to these correspondences. His revelations
are
not by poetic inspiration of metaphors and similes. He was able to observe correspondences
visually and experientially through his ability
to be present consciously in the plane of the spiritual
world. For instance, when people there discussed spiritual ideas from revelation,
horses appeared.
When someone he conversed with
had a hostile vindictive personality, all sorts of dangerous and
noxious animal and vegetative life appeared. When speaking with angels or visiting
their plane of
habitation, the surrounds similarly
reflected natural things that were exact correspondences of the
spiritual meaning of their lifestyle, affections, and topics of discussion,
reflected in unending detail
about the color of
walls, the material of clothes, the art of architecture and jewelry, and so
forth. In the
12 volumes of the Arcana Coelestia
and the 8 volumes of the Apocalypse Explained and Revealed,
Swedenborg undertook a verse by verse, and phrase by phrase analysis of three
books of the Bible
(Genesis, Exodus, Revelations)
in which he enters into the vast details of correspondences, or the
cause-effect analysis of natural phenomena by synchronous influx.
Our civilization has thus received a new consciousness
of ourselves as human beings, including the
knowledge
that our intimate and most personal thoughts and feelings are in fact operations
of
communication and mutual influence between ourselves
and the entire human race across all times
and
planets. Swedenborg says that in God all things are as one and that God sees
the entire human
race as one person. This is another
way of saying that nothing in the universe can exist by itself and
that all things are interconnected (DP 74; 124). Though this wisdom was long
known to individuals in
many generations, it is
only in Swedenborg that we are finally given the details of how this operates.
Many issues will be investigated as psychology and
society as a whole begin to assimilate the
concept
of the vertical community. How can we influence our vertical associations? If
we knew this
we could apply the knowledge to our
activities in therapy, instruction, inventiveness, and social
activism to bring about new thoughts and feelings, hence new values and ways
of behaving.
Swedenborg clearly states that the
purpose of the universe and all its phenomena such as the dual
sun, influx, and the vertical community is a human purpose serving our regeneration,
that is, our
ability to raise our immortal mind
or spirit into the higher planes of human existence to eternity.
Without these two
faculties [liberty and rationality] we would not have immortality and
eternal life. This follows from what has just been said, that by means of them
there is
conjunction
with the Lord and also reformation and regeneration: by conjunction we have
immortality and by
reformation and regeneration we have eternal life. Since by means of
these faculties there is conjunction of the Lord with every person, with the
evil as well as
with
the good, as has been said, therefore every individual has immortality. But
eternal
life, that
is, the life of heaven, is given to that person in whom there is reciprocal
conjunction ranging
from inmost things to ultimates. From these considerations may be
evident the reasons why the Lord preserves these two faculties in us unimpaired
and as
sacred in
every step of His Divine Providence. (DP 96)
5. No function without substance or the dualist methodology
The new scientific paradigm needs a workable methodology
in order to proceed and progress. We
now have a
scientifically revealed method of research and theory in dualist science. It
consists of
our following the map available in
the hard-wired built-in structure of correspondential influx across
vertical degrees. We now have available a practical method for investigating
empirically
cause-effect relations in the natural
world. We have been given the rational principles that constrict
what can happen and what cannot as laid forth in the law of providence and permissions.
We have
also been given the principle of correspondences
across vertical degrees, how they operate and
functionally
interrelate, both in etiology or development, and in synchronous operation.
No one has
offered a count of the size of the database
of correspondences in Swedenborg but as a global
guess I would say it runs into the millions. There have been attempts to enumerate
and categorize
some of the correspondences by Swedenborg
in the indexes at the end of his works, and
definitional
lists (e.g., Ontology), and there have been dictionary compilations by Swedenborgian
scholars (Potts; Worcester; Sechrist; L. James).
Noam Chomsky, architect of the new generative linguistics,
is one of the few influential figures in
science
who have fought a long intellectual battle against "behaviorism,"
which has been a
dominant approach in Psychology
identified with B. F. Skinner. Chomsky defied the long tradition of
materialism and asserted that humans are born with a mental organ he called
LAD or Language
Acquisition Device. Chomsky redefined
linguistics as "a branch of cognitive psychology" and
invented an entirely new methodology for linguistics that was adopted by the
entire profession as
the new dominant paradigm.
Chomsky defines the mind as a "biological organ" made of
sub-organs. His approach thus follows the rule of "No Function Without
Substance." However he
had no specific suggestions
regarding the nature of this mental substance. Swedenborg is unique
in the specificity with which he identifies the mental organs, which he calls
the "spirit."
Swedenborg was initiated into this scientific methodology
by the extraordinary love he maintained
for the
idea known globally to people as "all things are connected." This
idea is held as a primary
tenet in both religion/theology
and science. In religion: there is nothing that God does not see, or,
there is nothing beyond or outside God's will and power. In science: determinism
rules and there are
no exceptions. "Nothing
outside God" and "all things determined" are thus principles
generated by
the rational law that all things are
connected. However though this principle is known and accepted,
it is not understood and practiced in my generation of scientists. We have carved
out our various
disciplines and specializations
so that we are freed in our theory building and in our research, from
having to impose on ourselves the constriction that "all things are connected"
(DP 74; 124).
As a psychologist specializing in psycholinguistics,
I was allowed by my peers to formulate
mini-theories
that did not attempt to take into account the fact that all things are connected.
I could,
for instance, obtain research grants and
publish in refereed journals, by looking for methods of
analyzing discourse (dialog, self-reports, etc.) without being required to state
how thoughts are
generated through feelings. Studying
thoughts without the feelings that correspond to them and
produce them (DLW 412) is like studying the lungs without paying any attention
to the heart and the
circulation of the blood in
the lungs. Such an account of the lungs would be worse than useless if
decisions were to be based on it. Yet I am allowed to make scientific conclusions
about thoughts
without considering their corresponding
feelings. And many other scientists have done likewise, in
fact, the vast majority if not the entirety of the field of cognitive science.
Only now, at the end of the
1990s as we meet the
millennium, there is a new emergent awareness of how feelings influence
thoughts, as indicated in a new book announcing the birth of the field of "affective
computing"
(Picard, 1997).
Swedenborg has given a vivid illustration of the
new dualist methodology in his detailed analysis of
how the affective and the cognitive components of the mind interact and are
constrained by each
other. Since the affective
and cognitive organs of the mind are not visible to the microscope, and
cannot be scanned or imaged, we can gain specific details on their functional
relations by applying
to them what we know about
the hart and the lungs. All we need to know is that the heart
corresponds to the affective while the lungs correspond to the cognitive. Here
are some of his many
presentations on this methodology:
It is known that heat
and light go forth from the sun, and that all things in the universe are
recipients and grow warm and bright in the degree in which they receive. So
do heat
and light
go forth from the sun where the Lord is; the heat going forth therefrom is love,
and the light wisdom
(as shown in Part Second). Life, therefore, is from these two which
go forth from the Lord as a sun. That love and wisdom from the Lord is life
can be seen
also
from this, that man grows torpid as love recedes from him, and stupid as wisdom
recedes from him,
and that were they to recede altogether he would become extinct.
There are many things
pertaining to love which have received other names because
they are derivatives, such as affections, desires, appetites, and their pleasures
and
enjoyments; and
there are many things pertaining to wisdom, such as perception,
reflection, recollection, thought, intention to an end; and there are many pertaining
to
both love and
wisdom, such as consent, conclusion, and determination to action;
besides others. All of these, in fact, pertain to both, but they are designated
from the
more prominent
and nearer of the two. From these two are derived ultimately
sensations, those of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, with their enjoyments
and
pleasures.
It is according to
appearance that the eye sees: but it is the understanding that sees
through the eye; consequently seeing is predicated also of the understanding.
The
appearance is
that the ear hears: but it is the understanding that hears through the ear;
consequently hearing
is predicated also of attention and giving heed, which pertain to
the understanding. The appearance is that the nose smells, and the tongue tastes
but it
is the understanding
that smells and also tastes by virtue of its perception; therefore
smelling and tasting are predicated also of perception. So in other cases. The
sources
of all these
are love and wisdom; from which it can be seen that these two make the life
of man (DLW 363).
DP 193. I. ALL MAN'S
THOUGHTS ARE FROM THE AFFECTIONS OF HIS LIFE'S
LOVE AND THERE ARE NO THOUGHTS WHATEVER, NOR CAN THERE BE,
EXCEPT FROM THEM. It has been shown above in this treatise, and also in the
work
entitled ANGELIC
WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM,
particularly in the First and Fifth Parts, what in their essence are the life's
love and the
affections
and thoughts thence derived, and what the sensations and actions from these
are which arise in
the body. Now since the causes from which human prudence flows
forth as an effect are derived from these, it is necessary that something concerning
these should also
be stated here. For things written elsewhere cannot be so closely
connected with those written later as they can if they are repeated and presented
to view
together.
[2] Earlier in this
treatise, and in the one mentioned above on THE DIVINE LOVE AND
WISDOM, it was shown that in the Lord are Divine Love and Divine Wisdom; that
these
two are Life
itself; that from these two man has will and understanding, will from the
Divine Love and understanding from the Divine Wisdom; that to these two the
heart and
the lungs
in the body correspond; and that consequently it may be evident that as the
pulsation of the
heart together with the respiration of the lungs governs the whole man as
to his body, so the will together with the understanding governs the whole man
as to his
mind. Thus,
it has been shown, there are two principles of life in every man, the one
natural and the other spiritual, the natural principle of life being the pulsation
of the heart
and
the spiritual principle the will of the mind. Each of these joins to itself
a consort with
which
it cohabits and with which it performs the functions of life, the heart joining
to itself
the lungs,
and the will joining to itself the understanding.
[3] Now since the
soul of the will is love and the soul of the understanding is wisdom,
both being from the Lord, it follows that love is the life of everyone, and
is life of such a
quality as is joined to wisdom; or what is the same, that the will is the life
of everyone,
and
is life of such a quality as is joined to the understanding. However, more on
this
subject may
be seen above in this treatise, and especially in THE ANGELIC WISDOM
CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM in the First and Fifth Parts. (DP
193).
Here Swedenborg continues to elaborate on the principle
of correspondences as a methodology for
dualist
science. He first established the basic paradigm: the causal flow is always
unidirectional
from the spiritual to the natural
and never the reverse. When I discussed hearing in my lectures to
psychology students I did not present the idea that "it is the understanding
that hears through the
ear," believing instead
that hearing is the result of sound entering the brain through the ears in the
form of nerve impulses that correspond to the air
waves that correspond to the vocalizations of a
speaker. All this was true, but hardly genuine as I was not required by the
subject matter to discuss
how from the brain the
neural pattern became hearing or perceiving and understanding. It was
enough that I discuss how the physical information got to the brain.
At this point I was supposed to cease being a rational
scientist and speak in such irrational but
permissible
terms as, "My brain told me to go left" or "Your brain knows
that the outcome will be
negative," or, "Your
brain is telling you to fall asleep," etc., thus leaving unexplained how
we go
conceptually from "I" to the brain
or from the brain to knowledge or understanding other than to think
that the brain knows and the brain understands clearly an illogical idea since
it is the "I" that knows
and understands.
What we need is to show how the brain and the "I" connect or communicate
with
each other. We are more aware of this irrational
attitude when we talk about computers. Though we
say "the computer decides which is faster and shows it to you first"
and helpful things of this sort
computers do for
you, we know in the background through common understanding, that the
computer does not think and decide but performs data operations of a mechanical
sort under the
guidance and inner presence of the
programmer. Perhaps we tend to forget this, especially |
