in this manner, it must be candidly confessed, still remain involved in ignorance, and obscured by a kind of twilight shade; so that they are only resemblances of truths; since the mind, so long as it is connected with a material body, is, in no instance, so perfectly removed from the fallacies of the senses, as to be kept always on the watch. 14. This then is the path which I have ventured to enter, for the unfolding of truths, hitherto concealed from view under the veil of Hypothesis. The time also is favourable to my purpose; inasmuch as experience now places her choicest stores of facts within our reach, so that from these abundant materials we are enabled to construct our edifice; to put in the sickle and reap a luxurious harvest; and to enjoy the most magnificent banquet. I am of opinion also that the work ought no longer to be delayed; lest possibly our experimental knowledge should grow old, and be overtaken by the night of oblivion; and lest the arts and sciences should go down to their graves; for if I am not much mistaken in my conjectures, it is in that direction that the fates of the world incline. Behold, therefore, a summary of the work on which I am entering! My design is to take a Physical and Philosophical Survey of the Anatomy of the whole Body, of all its Viscera both of the Abdomen and the Thorax; of the Genital Members of each Sex; likewise of the five Organs of Sense. To examine in like manner the Anatomy of all the parts of the Cerebrum, of the Cerebellum, of the Medulla Oblongata and Spinalis. To proceed next to the Cortical Substance of each Brain, and its Medullary Fibre; also to the Nervous and Muscular Fibre of the Body; likewise to the cause of the Powers and Motion of the whole Organization; and further, to Diseases, especially of the Head, or such as are derived from the Brain. It is my purpose afterwards to attempt a kind of Introduction to a Rational Psychology, or to establish some new Doctrines, by the aid of which we may be led, from the material organization of the body, to the knowledge of its soul, which is immaterial; viz: the Doctrine of Forms; the Doctrine of Order, and of Degrees; also the Doctrine of Series, and of Society; the Doctrine of Influxes ; the Doctrine of Correspondences and of Representations; lastly, the Doctrine of Modifications. From these Doctrines, I shall afterwards proceed to a Rational Psychology itself, or to a Treatise concerning Action; concerning External and Internal Sense; concerning Imagination and Memory; as also concerning the Affections of the Mind [animus]; concerning Intellect, or concerning Thought and Will; concerning likewise the Affections of the Rational Mind [mens]; and concerning Instinct. Lastly, concerning the Soul and its State in the Body, its Commerce, Affection, Immortality; also concerning its State after the Life of the Body; to which will finally be added the Concordance to the various Systems.* 15. From this summary view or transcript of our intended work, it is evident what is its design, or end, viz. to acquire a knowledge of the soul, this being the crowning purpose of our lucubrations, to which all our labour is directed. For the soul is the active inhabitant, not only in the first principles of its own body, but also in those of the universe, being the supreme * Of the great work thus projected, our Author never published any more than three Parts, the first of which treats of the Viscera of the Abdomen, the second of the Viscera of the Thorax, and the third of the Organs of Sense; the two first were printed at Amsterdam, in 1744, and the third at London, in 1745: they make together a thick quarto volume. The fragment found among his papers and printed after his death, under the title of A Hieroglyphic Key to Representations and Correspondences, appears to be an outline of that part of the great work which was to deliver, as stated above, the Doctrine of Correspondences and Representations. But as about this time he received his superior illumination, and was called to the office of unfolding the interiors of the Word, and of delivering its genuine doctrines, for the use of the New Church, he discontinued his anatomical researches ; but having been made acquainted with the true Rational Psychology, and with all the subjects connected with it, as enumerated in the summary above, from a higher and infallible source, he has fully treated of them in his theological works. Having, as he repeatedly states, been prepared from his youth by the Lord for the great office to which he at length was called, he appears to have been led by Divine Providence to pursue his researches in science in an ascending direction, till he arrived as near, as it were, to the spiritual world, as it was possible for science to carry him; and then, his mind being furnished with all the sciences necessary for the full reception of the spiritual things which he was to be made the instrument of revealing to mankind, the Divine Hand, which hitherto had imperceptibly guided him, was openly discovered to him, and he was admitted into open communication with the spiritual world, and to the perception of interior spiritual truths by the opening to him of the spiritual sense of the Word. That this was the order through which his mind was led, appears, we think, evidently from an inspection of his philosophical works, and especially of the three parts of the work now before us, the Regnum Animale. EDITORS. essence, form, substance, and motive force of its microcosm, and from itself and its own nature establishing, renovating, and ruling the order of that microcosm; consequently it is in the sphere of truths. From the first dawn of philosophy, therefore, the soul hath kept almost all human minds most intent upon itself, and it still keeps them, in regard to itself, in a state of suspension, of distraction, and of perplexity; nevertheless, its true nature and quality are still but little known, and every one is in so much doubt on the subject that he cannot come to any certain or correct decision about it. Hence result so many obscure conjectures on the occasion, which involve it in so many clouds, that all hope of such an investigation as may lead to a full discovery of the truth, seems nearly to be abandoned. To attain then to this discovery, or to untie this knot, I have determined to proceed in this way of Analysis; in which path, with this object in view, I am, as far as I am aware, the first professed traveller. 16. To accomplish this grand end I enter the circus, designing to consider and thoroughly examine that whole world or microcosm which the soul inhabits; since I am persuaded she cannot be sought for anywhere but in her own kingdom: For tell me, where else is she to be found, but in that system to which she is adjoined and in-joined, and in which she is represented, and every moment exhibits herself for contemplation? The body is her image, resemblance, and type; she herself is the model, the idea, the head, that is, the soul, of her body ; thus she is represented in her body as in a mirror. For this reason I am induced to examine attentively the whole anatomy of her body, from the heel to the head, and from part to part; and that I may come nearer to my subject, I have determined to explore the brain itself, where the soul hath arranged her first organs: Lastly, I propose to examine the fibres, with the rest of the purer organical forms, and the forces and modes thence resulting. 17. But whereas it is not possible to climb up, and as it were to make a leap, from the organical, physical and material world, or the body, immediately to the soul itself, of which neither matter, nor any adjuncts of matter are predicable, since spirit is above the comprehensible modes of nature, and inhabits a region where the significant language of physical things is of no account, therefore it was necessary for me to prepare new ways by which I might be led to her, and might gain for myself access to her palace: in other words, it was necessary, with the most in tense application of mind [animus] to unfold, extricate, and bring to light some new doctrines for my guidance, being those enumerated above; namely, the doctrines of forms, of order and degrees, of series and society, of communications and influences, of correspondences and representations, and likewise of modifica tions, all which you will see collected into one treatise, which will be called an Introduction to a Rational Psychology, 18. When this labour is completed, I shall be admitted, as it were by general suffrage, to the soul, who, residing as a queen in her chair of state, or in the body, dispenseth laws, and rules every thing at her will; but yet from principles of order and of truth. This will be the crown of my work when concluded, and of my course in this most spacious race-ground. But in old time it was required of every racer, previous to his obtaining the crown, that he should seven times run round the goal; which law also I have determined to observe. 19. Not long ago I published the Economia Regni Animalis, intended to be digested into several sections; but I only com. pleted the section relating to the blood, its arteries and heart, as also to the motion and cortex of the brain: I likewise, before passing through the whole of the intended course, took a compendious way to the soul; on which subject I also published a Prodromus.* I have discovered, however, on deeper consideration, that I had been too quick and hasty in my steps, whilst I was attempting to attain a knowledge of the soul merely from an *The Author here seems to speak of a Prodromus on the Soul distinct from the Treatise on that subject at the end of the Economia; yet if a separate Prodromus was ever issued, it has escaped the researches of the collectors of his works, and is not noticed in any list of them. It was formerly much the custom with the learned, when they were preparing any large work, to publish a specimen of it under the title of a Prodromus,-a word which means a Forerunner. This custom was followed by our Author in two other instances: thus in 1724 he published a Prodromus to his Principia, which work did not appear till thirteen years afterwards; and in 1734 he published a Prodromus to a work which he then contemplated under the title of Philosophia ratiocipans de Infinito, &c. but which work never appeared at all. These examples would lead to the inference, that when he speaks alone of a Prodromus on the Soul he refers to a distinct publication under that name: yet as no such publication is known to exist, the probability seems to be, that he alludes to the work on the Soul in the Economia, which was a Prodromus in reality, though not in title.-EDITORS. enquiry into the nature of the blood and its appropriate organs. But I was urged on by the ardour of my desire to arrive at the knowledge of that subject. But since the soul exerts her activity in supreme and inmost principles, and cannot be brought forth to view, until all the coverings with which she is enveloped are unfolded in order; I have determined not to desist from this part of my task, until I have traversed the whole field above mentioned, even to the goal; in other words, until I have explored the whole animal kingdom even to the soul. Thus it is my hope, if I bend my course continually inwards, that I shall be enabled, through divine favour, to open all the doors which lead to her presence, and at length to be admitted to the view and contemplation of herself. 20. But I am aware that the generality of philosophers at this day, even those of the most acute penetration, will whisper in my ear, that it is a vain and idle task to attempt to approach, through the recesses and medullary interiors of the human body, to the soul itself; since we not only view with some obscurity, but also explore with fallacious uncertainty, even those things, which, lying far beneath the soul, are the objects of ocular vision; such as the organical parts of the body, their modes, sensation, and powers of action. Besides, our understanding cannot penetrate to the knowledge of itself: how then should it attain to a knowledge of the soul, which inhabits a still superior region! For things of a higher order dwell in a kind of light inaccessible to things of a lower order, insomuch that if any one, without due preparation, thoughtlessly approaches that light, he either envelopes himself in shade and darkness, like what is experienced by the bodily eye when fixed too intently on the sun, or is consumed, like a piece of cloth cast into the fire of the altar. Add to this, that the idea, necessary to apprehend the soul, is wanting, as likewise is a mode of speech requisite for describing it; since the soul hath nothing in common with body and matter: For it is neither corporeal, nor material; consequently, it is above all that intelligence, which conceives its notions, as is the case with our intellect, through the medium of the forms, predicates, and adjuncts of matter; and which expresses itself by the same means, as is the case with our speech. Hence possibly it will be inferred, that to attempt an ascent to such a height, is altogether ridiculous and vain. But to obviate the force of this reasoning, |
