to the Future of Psychology
The purpose of this article is to argue that the future of psychology as a science and profession depends on its ability to evolve new concepts and methods that will allow it to treat the mind and the afterlife as real psychological phenomena. I will try to show that in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) there is to be found a solution to psychology's physical materialism. His brilliant integration of psychololgy and physiology has not been recognized in the history of psychology as his name appears nowhere in the psychological literature. This systematic exclusion reflects contemporary psychology's intolerance of spiritual revelation. Swedenborg has been classified as a theologian and mystic, hence not a physiologist or Gestaltist, or phenomenologist. Psychologists may feel justified in ignoring a book titled "Heavenly Secrets" in which the author claims to present his direct observations of people making the journey from life in the physical body to life in the spiritual body. What happens, however, if one of us, moved by a deep attraction, decides to examine this man's claims, using the same attitude and orientation which we normally use when critically reviewing a colleague's latest research proposal. We should ask the following types of questions:
Category 1 Questions. Who is Swedenborg? What are his credentials for writing books by such titles as "Rational Psychology" (1742), "The Five Senses" (1744), "Spiritual diary" (1746-1765), "Apocalypse Explained" (17,,), and "True Christian Religion" (1771)? What is his reputation with his contemporaries and with modern biographers, if any?
The answers I have found to these questions were quite acceptable with regards to the scientific and ethical issues to be considered. There appears to be an active set of writers about him, important and respectable figures in the history of American thinking, as may be seen from the list in Table 1. Several careful biogrophies exist and there is a uniform agreement that Swedenborg was neither a psychotic nor a liar. His scientific publications in Latin were original and modern treatments of problems in mining, metallurgy, physiology, and psychology. He travelled extensively throughout Europe visiting known experts in the scientific disciplines and using the latest findings to build his explanations. Contemporary activities among Swedenborgian shcolars are varied. Both scientific and theological journals exist in this country and elsewhere (e.g., New Philosophy, New Church Life, Crhysallis). Two well known reference works are the Swedenborg Corcondance and The Swedenborg Researcher's Manual which lists a number of Ph.D. dissertations, various journal articles, and hundreds of collateral works on Swedenborg.
If Swedenborg's life had ended at age 57, his name would most certainly be found in the history of psychology books as the founder of modern psychology, a title now variously given to Descartes, Hobbes, Wundt, or James. But at age 57, according to his own accounts, he suddenly developed what might be called dual perception. To his startling amazement he was now able to perceive into the afterlife. He saw acquaintances entering the afterlife, an event which he observed occurs about 36 hours after the death of the body. He appeared among them and was able to be seen by them so that he could interview them and observe their behavior and environment. Further, he was able to visit with the people he knew from historical study, including Aristotle, King David, the Apostles, Newton, and many more. He kept a daily diary for many years and published nearly 30 volumes of eyewitness reports and analyses by the time of his death in 1772, at the age of 82.
At this point, most psychologists may indeed decide not to go any further. But what if they did? What was there to be found that the future of psychology might depend on?
Category 2 Questions. What is his area? What is his approach? Where does he fit in? What kind of data or empirical evidence does he use? Are his concepts functional and behavioristic? Do any of his assumptions or conclusions contradict known psychological facts and principles? Are his theories useful in understanding and predicting human behavior? Is his system internally consistent? Can his approach serve psychology as a whole? Does he deal with important and significant aspects of human behavior and the environment?
(to be continued)
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