Swedenborg's

Tsychology
t
SWEDENBORG:
A PSYCHOLOGICAL PIONEER
BY HowARD DAVIS SPOERL, Ph.D.
Director Psychology Department, American
International College, Springfield, Mass.
O
F EMANUEL SwEDENBORG's many con-
tributions to science, none is more sig-
nificant than his work in psychology. To-
day, when large numbers of people are
following the long road of psychology, in an
effort to trace its turnings to some final un-
derstanding of human nature, the ideas of
this famous philosopher and seer 'seem sur-
prisingly fresh and modern. Though Swe-
denborg lived and died before the American
Revolution, his psychology has helped many
people to find inspiration in life, and his
outlook is still vital though little known. In
his day his thinking was far in advance of
the world's not only by virtue of a few rare
flashes of insight that we associate with
genius, but also in its wholesale comprehen-
sion of the innumerable questions that mod-
ern psychologists, because of specialization,
answer in a fragmentary way. Sweden-
borg's psychology was a complete psychol-
ogy.
Two centuries ago most of the work in
psychology was being done by philosophers
who produced abstract and inert systems of
mind by merely reflecting upon its apparent
[ 3 ]
nature. There was little interest in relat-
ing the mind in all its aspects to the brain
and the rest of the body. But Swedenborg
began his study of the mind by studying the
body. As a result, his psychology was a
physiological psychology, in which he de-
scribed many relationships between mind
and brain. Present-day psychologists be-
lieve as a matter of course in some sort of
physiological approach.
Through his earlier work in psychology,
Swedenborg treated the topic of the actions
of the body in their bearing on states of
mind. Here his problem was that of the
"regulation of the soul's domain"-for he
soon came to regard the body as the region
in which mind and spirit functioned, and as
the implement of the higher and deeper side
of human nature. The Swedish thinker
also wrote a book on "rational psychology"
in which he dealt with the interaction of the
various mental states. A modern note in
this research is sounded by his insistence
upon real forces and impulses within the
mind, which were not simply actions result-
ing from outside influences nor yet vague
and shadowy "instincts." During the last
twenty years Freud and other psychologists
have taken a similar position by refusing to
look upon mind as a mere passive entity
that is buffeted about by event s occurring
in the outside world.
SWEDENBORG AND FREUD
Freud's great gift to modern psychology
was the Unconscious. The forces within
[ 4 ]
the mind are often hidden from conscious-
ness as to their nature and mode of opera-
tion. Central to Swedenborg's psychology
is the principle that the mind functions on
different levels, and that we are usually un-
conscious of most of its activities. Here,
then, is another leading thought which Swe-
denborg held in common with modern psy-
chology.
But while Freud ends his search for the
springs of action . on uncovering the "libido"
and while most psychologists do not go be-
yond the constitution of the individual in
looking for causes, Swedenborg went much
further, penetrating into the midst of life
and nature, unsatisfied with anything short
of the ultimate origin of thought and feel-
ing. Where modern psychology leaves off,
fearing to venture into the forbidden fields
of "metaphysics" and "mysticism," Sweden-
borg's psychology really began. The war-
ring schools of psychology in the world to-
day represent so many fragmentary theories
of the mechanisms of mental life. The
practical psychologist is pleased when he is
able to show that lack of confidence may be
traced to a childhood fear, or that the false
testimony of a witness is due to inaccurate
perception of an event, or that habits are
t he result of accidental conditioning. In
such expositions the machinery of mental
activity is often emphasized to the exclusion
of its reason for occurring in the first place.
But what has all this to do with the ques-
tion of what our lives are for and what we
are doing with them? One reason for the
[ 5 ]
clash of opmwns among psychologists and
their frequent failure to achieve conclusive
solutions of life problems is unquestionably
their ignoring of the larger context of men-
tal growth and functioning.
Swedenborg discovered many things about
the mechanisms of mental life, but he also
went on to deal with the larger context. In
his search for meaning he left no stone un-
turned. Convinced of the futility of find-
ing ultimate causes in purely biological ac-
tivity, he ventured into higher philosophical
realms, and his persistence in this direction
led to the completion of his psychological
structure. It is his later contributions that
are of greatest interest today. While his
earlier work was highly original by reason
of the unification into one system of a great
many lines of approach, physiological as
well as philosophical, it bore many similari-
ties to other schemes of psychology. Had
Swedenborg's labours ceased at this point,
the knowledge of the soul would have re-
mained where his illustrious predecessors in
these investigations, from Plato down, had
left it. But Swedenborg pushed on into the
center of things, and developed the larger
context.
Most people are vaguely aware that Swe-
denborg had something to do with religion.
The second of the two periods of his life,
beginning in 17 46, has been referred to as
the period of theological interest. Yet it
may with equal justification be considered
as a period of psychological interes't. As
we have already seen, Swedenborg discov-
[ 6 ]
ered, as others have done before and since,
that the mind functions on different levels.
In other words, there are different ways of
living. Living and thinking on the "natu-
ral" level may be distinguished from living
and thinking on the "spiritual" level. Or
to put it in still another way, we may re-
gard life from the point of view of its ex-
ternal form and also from the point of view
of its inner meaning. In any case we are
dealing with different aspects of the same
thing. From the external point of view,
Swedenborg's ideas constitute a theological
system; from the inner point of view, an
amplified psychology. The search for truth
about life finally led Swedenborg to the con-
clusion that mind, as well as all of life, is
divine in its origin and nature. Rather than
serving as the source of mental forces and
strivings, the natural world and man's physi-
cal constitution are simply the means by
which we become aware of them, and the
theatre in which our thoughts and actions
are expressed.
His PROBLEM WAS PsvcHOLOGICAL
At this point the reader is likely to con-
clude that Swedenborg was merely one more
idealistic philosopher who denied tangible
realities; yet such is far from being the
case. The reason for coming to such a con-
clusion is that the preceding paragraph
states nothing that has not often been as-
serted by philosophers and theologians. B_ut
it does not tell the whole story. In the first
place, Swedenborg's problem was psycho-
[ 7 ]
logical r ather than purely philosophical.
His great aim, as he himself says, was to
discover the basis of the "soul's" activity.
In the second place, he did not belittle or
regard as inconsequential or non-existent the
natural level of living as dist inguished from
the spiritual. Christians have sometimes re-
garded the flesh .as an evil to be moTtified,
while Christian Science denies that matter
has r eal existence. Inst ead of reflecting
such views as these, Swedenborg emphasized
the importance of the natural aspect of life,
and held that every feature of it bas some
proper and necessary use. At the same
time, he went on t o develop the deeper sig-
nificance and harmony of the spiritual level
of living.
His demonstration of the relationship ' be-
tween the two ways of life is a triumph of
psychological analysis. Every item on the
natural or external level of life has its
counterpart in some item on the spiritual or
intemal level. Because the relation is ac-
tive, spiritual events cause their natural
counterparts, but in terms of our experience
the r elationship is simply one of cMre-
spondence. In other words, if we look be-
neath the surface of natural events, we c.an
often discern corresponding spiritual events
of deeper significance. This does not mean
that the natural events are to be dismissed
as having no importance in themselves.
Since we live in natural bodies, we must live
l argely in terms of events belonging to this
level.
To a physical scientist such a view might
[ 8 ]
seem fantastic and absurd. Yet similar ap-
proaches are being used by modern psy-
chologists in their endeavor to unlock the
mystery of mind and bring adjustment out
of frustration and despair. Psychoanalyti-
cal demonstrations make ceaseless use of
"symbols" by means of which "unconscious
strivings" are brought to light. The labora-
tory psychologist has tried for nearly a cen-
tury to understand why the motorist sees and
interprets as a green light a disk of certain
physical proportions that emits emanations
of a certain wave length. Those who are
conducting physiological researches into the
newly discovered "brain waves" hope they
can solve the problem of the translation of
physical events into cQnscious states. Swe-
denborg's theory of "correspondences" con-
tains the germ of all these attempts to in-
terpret mental life. A '1aw" of correspond-
ence, derived from one of the founders of
experimental psychology who in turn de-
rived it from a total system strikingly simi-
lar to Swedenborg's, is actually in use as an
indispensable instrument of psychological
research. This principle, known as the
"psychophysical law," was worked out in
its mathematical form by G. T. Fechner a
century after Swedenborg, but in ignorance
of his ideas.
PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCES
In psychology the principle of corre-
spondences means that a continuous series
of events in one realm is related in a regular
way to another series of events in some
[ 9 ]
other context. Such relationships have been
described between stimuli and perceptions,
between stimuli and nervous reactions, be-
tween nervous reactions and conscious states,
etc. Just as it was in one sense the back-
bone of Swedenborg's psychology, so does
it furnish modern psychologists with a nec-
essary frame of reference for organizing
and classifying their data.
While Swedenborg thus devised a method
of explaining mental life that shares even
its details with more recent methods, it re-
mains true in more ways than one he began
to be a psychologist only where others l eave
off. For Swedenborg approached the whole
question of correspondence between the nat-
ural and the spiritual in a far more profound
way than is current in present-day psychol-
ogy. The distinction between these classes
is indeed not generally r ecognized, despite
the similarity of method. Only the "natu-
ral" sphere is investigated by most psychol-
ogists. In setting up principles of corre-
spondence they have therefore confined
themselves to mathematical statements of re-
l ationship, all within the natural sphere,
while Swedenborg gave a full account of
the forces which bring such relationships to
life. He placed all uossible emphasis upon
the idea that the natural side of life differs
not only in degree but also in kind from the
spiritual side. He therefore taught that all
events originate in some form on the spir-
itual level and are manifested in appropri -
ate ways on the natural. The active force
which brings about this expression is spir-
[ 10]
itual force, of a piece with the divine order
of the universe.
Yet the two sides or levels of conscious-
ness, of life, of reality, are not separate
realms of being that exclude each other.
Rather do they exist at the same time and
in the same beings. A natural interpreta-
tion of experience does not exhaust its mean-
ings; likewise a spiritual interpretation does
not discard or supersede the natural. Love
is not exclusively a matter of sensuality;
nevertheless its higher meaning does not
deny expression to the physical side. A
speaker trying earnestly to persuade his
audience is expressing more than is con-
tained in the obvious meaning of his words.
A given idea is, in addition to what it pur-
ports to be, a summing up of the whole na-
ture and attitude of the mind that holds it.
Hence, at all points of thought and action
we lead double lives-a fact which many
modern psychologists are never weary of
demonstrating in their own way. That their
way is often fragmentary and ultimately in-
effectual could be expl ained by their refusal
to accept any order of reality but the mate-
rial or "natural" order, or to venture upon
the deeper stratum of life as envisaged by
Swedenborg, where mind must be understood
as the effect of harmony between all minds.
If we enter upon this stratum with Swe-
denborg, we learn that the practical prob-
lem of life which confronts all men sooner
or later is the problem of realizing this har-
mony and achieving an awareness of the di-
vine action in the world. Among other
[ 11]
things, this means what psychologists now
call the making of proper adjustments to
life. In religious t erms, this has always
been the problem of "salvation." In this
area, Swedenborg again discovered a means
of adjustment that belongs in the most r e-
cently developed of all fields of psychology.
To become adjusted, the personality must
be reorganized. The harmony of corre-
spondences between the natural and the
spiritual sides of life must be brought into
view, and the precedence of the spiritual
side must be acknowledged. Although Swe-
denborg's language was very different from
current psychological t erminology, it is evi-
dent that his solution to life's practical prob-
lems included the bulk of the psychoan-
alyst' s considerations - plus a great deal
more of a profounder nature. In any event,
it included no l ess than this.
More and more are modern psychologists
stressing the significance of the total organi-
zation that we call personality. As we grow
up, our personalities are reorganized many
differ ent times. This process of r eorgani-
zation has no end in Swedenborg's view.
If the person' s outlook is to be adequate and
his life successful he must at l east achieve
a reorganization that permits divine action
to become effective. This is accomplished
by recognizing the divine nature of life, and
by submitting to divine guidance.
Such are the outlines of a psychology that,
while it has been reechoed in part here and
ther e by independent investigators during
the last two centuries, Swedenborg was per -
I 12 J
mitted to elaborate and announce in its co.m-
plete and harmonious arrangement. The
physiological accent, the dynamic emphasis,
the recognition of the Unconscious, the
principle of correspondences, the stressing
of personality, and the vindication of the
supreme worth of the spirit-these are but
some of the leading ideas in a conception
that is not fully understood even now by
the average student.
"Swedenborg was in many respects the most re-
markable man of his own or any age."
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of
Religious Knowledge, 1911 edit.
[ 13]
NEW-CHURCH BOOK DEPOTS
Baltimore, Md.
Swedenborg Book Center, 3812 Barrington Rd.
Boston, Mass.
Massachuset ts New-Church Union, 134 Bowdoin St.
Chicago, III.
Western New-Church Union, 17 N. State St.
Cincinnati, Ohio
New-Church Center, Oak St. and Winslow Ave.
Detroit, Mich.
92 E. Forest Ave.
Houston, Tex.
New-Church Center, Box 102, Belaire
Jacksonville, Fla.
New-Church Center, 816 Oak St.
Los Angeles, Cal.
509 So. Westmoreland Ave.
1155 Echo Park Ave.
New York, N. Y.
Swedenborg Foundation, Inc., 51 East 42nd St.
The New-Chur<:h Press, 108 Clark St., Brooklyn
Philadelphia, Pa.
New-Church Book Center, 2129 Chestnut St.
Portland, Ore.
New-Church Center, 1603 S. E. Maple St.
1Providence, R. I.
Broad & Linden Sts.
San Francisco, Cal.
New-Church Library, 2107 Lyon St.
San Diego, Cal.
4144 Campus Ave.
Seattle, Wash.
New-Church Center , 723 Summit Ave., N.
St. Louis, Mo.
New-Church Library, 1215 Sunset Ave.
Toronto, Ont., Canada
New-Church Book Room, 561 Yonge St.
Washington, D. C.
New-Church Library, 1611 16th St., N. W.
[ 14]
Published by the Swedenborg
Publishing Society, Hawthorne,
N. J., which will supply addi-
tional copies free of charge.
1937