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PHILOSOPHY IN 1743 AND 1744. 1115
but philosophy in itself, which is true philosophy, agrees with the
things in the Divine Word; just as external things agree with internal
things, or nature with heaven, for nature is so constituted that there
is a complete concordance or harmony. The philosophy of the human
mind ought to be of such a nature that spiritual and heavenly things
may be seen from it ; and such a philosophy is possible, because such
is the nature of philosophy in itself. When there is such a philo
sophy, then there is acquired by means of it an intellectual faith,
to which the human mind may have recourse when there arise doubts
about the things to be believed. But if the mind has recourse to it at
the present time, faith is at once destroyed, for the philosophy of
the present day is of such a nature that it expels faith, and thus
extinguishes the light of truth and induces darkness; the result of
which is, that the mind can no longer be illustrated except by a
miracle, viz. when a different state is induced upon the mind, which
can only be brought about by misfortunes, sickness, and thus by
anxieties, and finally by what are called pangs of conscience ; conse
quently, by an indefinite variety of modes adapted to the state of
each one’s mind. It is evident, however, that this is much more
difficult with such as are imbued with the philosophy of the present
day than with the more simple ones."
The reason why the philosophy of the present day is of such a
negative and destructive quality, is stated by Swedenborg thus :
"Philosophy or human erudition judges and concludes spiritual from
natural things ; and as the natural man, since the fall, is of such a
nature as to be entirely opposed to the spiritual man and to fight
continually against it, therefore the philosophy which is drawn from
the rational mind of such a man is of such a nature, as to destroy
the things derived from the Divine Word. Wherefore it is not so
much philosophy itself, regarded in itself, which is at fault, as the
human mind which has become such since the fall, and from which
mind philosophy is drawn" (Ibid., no. 911, p. 571).
En
II. Influence of the will on the Understanding. Swedenborg says,
in the Economia Regni Animalis, "I know not what darkness
overspreads the rational faculties when the mind begins to swell with
pride, or when our intuition of objects calls up in the objects them
selves the image and glory of our own self. It is like pouring into
some exquisite wine a liquid which raises it into a froth, sullies its
purity and clouds its translucence. It is as if the animal spirits
were lashed into waves, and a tempest raised the grosser blood into
insurgent motion, by which the organs of internal sensation or per
ception becoming swollen, the powers of thought are dulled, and the
whole scene of action in their theatre changed. In those who ex
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