Emmanuel Swedenborg's philosophy of the human organism

The mind is that organ which has the function of understanding, thinking and willing. The mind is the place where Man’s freewill operates. It has the power of choice, of doing or leaving undone. From that which the soul proposes, the mind can select what it wishes. It can follow or not follow the desires of the Animus and it can will the means and determine the body to action.

Man as the ultimate of natural creation is the means of achieving an end which is beyond nature. The goal of human will and understanding is, according to Swedenborg, the conception of a society of souls. This notion of human society as an organism which appears in The Economy of the Animal Kingdom is based on the idea of macrocosm and microcosm. The human organism as microcosm is a concentration of the forms, forces and substances of the macrocosm, and the body is in its turn the pattern of human society.

The society of souls would be the social organism operating by Man’s freewill. If the minds, that is the will and understanding of humanity, were united in the direction of this goal, there would be no problem. In the human body, this same sphere, the sphere of causes, is represented by the heart and lungs. In the co-functioning of these two organs with one another and with the rest of the body, is seen the pattern of a complete unity of will and understanding. However the human mind, this sphere of causes, is divided. One half looks upwards to the soul and its principlesthe other half looks downwards to the Animus and the sphere of the senses. For Man to take his place in his own world and in the universe, he has to transcend the division in his soul organism, The transformation of the individual mind and soul is the very same process as the creation of the social organism. There is likewise a parallel between the changes in the material elements of the universe on entering the human organism and the transformation of the individual in relation to society. Just as physically the kingdoms of nature die and are reborn as they pass through and are incorporated into the body of Man, so spiritually the individual must die and resurrect into society.

Swedenborg completed his study of the human organism during the third period ofhis life work with yet another approach. In 1744, at the age of 56, the magnitude of the task which he had undertaken appeared to strike him with overwhelming force. As a

10