By Immanuel Kant.
(May, 1824.)
———But now to my hero. If many a forgotten writer, or writer destined1 to be forgotten, is on that account the more deserving of applause for having spared no cost of toil2 and intellectual exertion3 upon his works, certainly Swedenborg of all such writers is deserving of the most. Without doubt his flask4 in the moon is full; and not at all less than any of those which Ariosto saw in that planet filled with the lost wits of men, so thoroughly5 is his great work emptied of every drop of common sense. Nevertheless there prevails in every part so wonderful an agreement with all that the most refined and consistent sense under the same fantastic delusions7 could produce on the same subject, that the reader will pardon me if I here detect the same curiosities in the caprices of fancy which many other virtuosi have detected in the caprices of nature; for instance, in variegated8 marble, where some have discovered a holy family; or in stalactites and petrifactions, where others have discovered monks9, baptismal fonts, and organs; or even in frozen window-panes, where our countryman Liscow, the humourist, discovered the number of the beast and the triple crown; things which he only is apt to descry10, whose head is preoccupied11 with thoughts about them.
The main work of this writer is composed of eight quarto volumes full of nonsense, which he presented to the world as a new revelation under the title of Arcana Cœlestia. In this work his visions are chiefly directed to the discovery of the secret sense in the two first books of Moses, and to a similar way of interpreting the whole of the Scripture12. All these fantastic interpretations13 are nothing to my present purpose: those who have any curiosity may find some account of them in the Bibliotheca Theologica of Dr. Ernesti. All that I design to extract are his audita et visa, from the supplements to his chapters—that which he saw with his own eyes, and heard with his own ears: for these parts of his dreams it is which are to be considered as the foundation of all the rest. Swedenborg’s style is dull and mean. His narrations15 and their whole contexture appear in fact to have originated in a disorder16 of his sensitive faculty17, and suggest no reason for suspecting that the speculative18 delusions of a depraved intellect have moved him to invent them. Viewed in this light, they are really of some importance—and deserve to be exhibited in a short abstract; much more indeed than many a brainless product of fantastic philosophers who swell19 our journals with false subtilties; for a coherent delusion6 of the senses is always a more remarkable20 phenomenon than a delusion of the intellect; inasmuch as the grounds of this latter delusion are well known, and the delusion itself corrigible enough by self-exertion and by putting more check upon the rash precipitation of the judgment21; whereas a delusion of the senses touches the original foundation of all judgment, and where it exists is radically22 incapable23 of all cure from logic14. I distinguish therefore in our author his craziness of sense from his crazy wits; and I pass over his absurd and distorted reasonings in those parts where he abandons his visions, for the same reason that in reading a philosopher we are often obliged to separate his observations from his arguments: and generally, delusive24 experiences are more instructive than delusive grounds of experience in the reason. Whilst I thus rob the reader of some few moments, which otherwise perhaps he would have spent with no greater profit in reading works of abstract philosophy that are often of not less trivial import,—I have at the same time provided for the delicacy25 of his taste by the omission26 of many chimæras, and by concentrating the essence of the book into a few drops; and for this I anticipate no less gratitude27 from him than (according to the old story) a patient expressed towards his physicians—who had contented28 themselves with ordering him to eat the bark of the quinquina, when it was clearly in their power to have insisted on his eating up the whole tree.
Mr. Swedenborg divides his visions into three kinds, of which the first consists in being liberated29 from the body—an intermediate state between waking and sleeping, in which he saw—heard—and felt spirits. This kind he has experienced three or four times. The second consists in being carried away by spirits, whilst he continues to walk the streets (suppose) without losing his way; meantime in spirit he is in quite other regions, and sees distinctly houses, men, forests, &c.; and all this for some hours long, until he suddenly finds himself again in his true place. This has happened to him two or three times. The third or ordinary kind of visions is that which he has daily when wide awake; and from this class his narrations are chiefly taken. All men, according to Swedenborg, stand in an intimate connection with the spiritual world; only they are not aware of it; and the difference between himself and others consists simply in this—that his innermost nature is laid open, of which gift he always speaks with the most devout30 spirit of gratitude (Datum mihi est ex divinâ Domini misericordiâ). From the context it is apparent that this gift consists in the consciousness of those obscure representations which the soul receives through its continual connection with the spiritual world. Accordingly he distinguishes in men between the external and the internal memory. The former he enjoys as a person who belongs to the visible world, but the latter in virtue31 of his intercourse32 with the spiritual world. Upon this distinction is grounded also the distinction between the outer and inner man; and Swedenborg’s prerogative33 consists in this—that he stands already in this life in the society of spirits, and is recognised by them as possessing such a prerogative. In the inner memory is retained whatsoever34 has vanished from the outer; and of all which is presented to the consciousness of man nothing is ever lost. After death the remembrance of all which ever entered his soul, and even all that had perished to himself, constitutes the entire book of his life. The presence of spirits, it is true, strikes only upon his inner sense. Nevertheless this is able to excite an apparition35 of these spirits external to himself, and even to invest them with a human figure. The language of spirits is an immediate36 and unsymbolic communication of ideas; notwithstanding which it is always clothed in the semblance38 of that language which Swedenborg himself speaks, and is represented as external to him. One spirit reads in the memory of another spirit all the representations, whether images or ideas, which it contains. Thus the spirits see in Swedenborg all the representations which he has of this world; and with so clear an intuition that they often deceive themselves and fancy that they see the objects themselves immediately—which however is impossible, since no pure spirit has the slightest perception of the material universe: nay39 they cannot gain any idea of it through intercourse with the souls of other living men, because their inner nature is not opened—i. e. their inner sense contains none but obscure representations. Hence it arises that Mr. Swedenborg is the true oracle40 of spirits, which are not at all less curious to read in him the present condition of the world, than he is to view in their memory, as in a mirror, the marvels41 of the spiritual world. Although these spirits stand in like manner closely connected with all other souls of living men, by a reciprocal commerce of action and passion, yet they are as little aware of this as men are aware of it. Spirits therefore ascribe to themselves as the product of their own minds what in fact results from the action of human souls upon them; just as men during their lives imagine that all their thoughts, and the motions of the will which take place within them, arise from themselves, although in fact they oftentimes take their origin in the spiritual world. Meantime every human soul, even in this life, has its place and station in this spiritual world, and belongs to a certain society which is always adapted to its inner condition of truth and goodness,—that is, to the condition of the understanding and the will. But the places of souls in relation to each other have nothing in common with the material world; and therefore the soul of a man in India is often in respect to spiritual situation next neighbour to the soul of another man in Europe; as on the contrary very often those, who dwell corporeally43 under the same roof, are with respect to their spiritual relations far enough asunder44. If a man dies, his soul does not on that account change its place; but simply feels itself in that place which in regard to other spirits it already held in this life. For the rest, although the relation of spirits to each other is no true relation of space, yet has it to them the appearance of space; and their affinities45 or attractions for each other assume the semblance of proximities, as their repulsions do of distances; just as spirits themselves are not actually extended, but yet present the appearance to each other of a human figure. In this imaginary space there is an undisturbed intercourse of spiritual natures. Mr. Swedenborg converses46 with departed souls whenever he chooses, and reads in their memory (he means to say in their representative faculty) that very condition in which they contemplate47 themselves; and this he sees as clearly as with his bodily eyes. Moreover the enormous distance of the rational inhabitants of the world is to be accounted as nothing in relation to the spiritual universe; and to talk with an inhabitant of Saturn48 is just as easy to him as to speak with a departed human soul. All depends upon the relation of their inner condition in reference to their agreement in truth and goodness: but those spirits, which have weak affinities for each other, can readily come into intercourse through the inter-agency of others. On this account it is not necessary that a man should actually have dwelt on all the other heavenly bodies in order to know them together with all their wonders.
One presiding doctrine49 in Swedenborg’s ravings is this: corporeal42 beings have no subsistence of their own, but exist merely by and through the spiritual world; although each body not by means of one spirit alone, but of all taken together. Hence the knowledge of material things has two meanings; an external meaning referring to the inter-dependencies of the matter upon itself, and an internal meaning in so far as they denote the powers of the spiritual world which are their causes. Thus the body of man has a system of parts related to each other agreeably to material laws: but, in so far as it is supported by the spirit which lives, its limbs and their functions have a symbolic37 value as expressions of those faculties51 in the soul from which they derive52 their form, mode of activity, and power of enduring. The same law holds with regard to all other things in the visible universe: they have (as has been said) one meaning as things—which is trivial, and another as signs—which is far weightier. Hence by the way arises the source of those new interpretations of Scripture which Swedenborg has introduced. For the inner sense,—that is, the symbolic relation of all things there recorded to the spiritual world,—is, as he conceits53, the kernel54 of its value; all the rest being only its shell. All spirits represent themselves to one another under the appearance of extended forms; and the influences of all these spiritual beings amongst one another raise to them at the same time appearances of other extended beings, and as it were of a material world. Swedenborg therefore speaks of gardens—spacious regions—mansions—galleries—and arcades55 of spirits—as of things seen by himself in the clearest light; and he assures us—that, having many times conversed56 with all his friends after their death, he had almost always found in those who had but lately died—that they could scarcely convince themselves that they had died, because they saw round about them a world similar to the one they had quitted. He found also that spiritual societies, which had the same inner condition, had the same apparition of space and of all things in space; and that the change of their internal state was always accompanied by the appearance of a change of place.
I have already noticed that, according to our author, the various powers and properties of the soul stand in sympathy with the organs of the body entrusted57 to its government. The outer man therefore corresponds to the whole inner man; and hence, whenever any remarkable spiritual influence from the invisible world reaches one of these faculties of the soul, he is sensible also harmonically of the apparent presence of it in the corresponding members of his outer man. To this head now he refers a vast variety of sensations in his body which are uniformly connected with spiritual intuition; but the absurdity58 of them is so enormous that I shall not attempt to adduce even a single instance.——By all this a preparation is made for the strangest and most fantastic of his notions in which all his ravings are blended. As different powers and faculties constitute that unity59 which is the soul or inner man, so also different spirits (whose leading characteristics bear the same relation to each other as the various faculties of a spirit) constitute one society which exhibits the appearance of one great man; and in this shadowy image every spirit is seen in that place and in those visible members which are agreeable to its proper function in such a spiritual body. And all spiritual societies taken together, and the entire universe of all these invisible beings, appears again in the form of a hugest and ultra-enormous man mountain: a monstrous60 and gigantic fancy, which perhaps has grown out of the school mode of representing a whole quarter of the world under the image of a virgin61 sitting. In this immeasurable man is an entire and inner commerce of each spirit with all, and of all with each; and, let the position of men in reference to each other be what it may, they take quite another position in this enormous man—a position which they never change, and which is only in appearance a local position in an immeasurable space, but in fact a determinate kind of relation and influence.
But I am weary of transcribing62 the delirious63 ravings of a poor visionary, the craziest that has ever existed, or of pursuing them to his descriptions of the state after death. I am checked also by other considerations. For, although in forming a medical museum it is right to collect specimens64 not only of natural but also of unnatural65 productions and abortions66, yet it is necessary to be cautious before whom you show them: and amongst my readers there may happen to be some in a crazy condition of nerves; and it would give me pain to think that I had been the occasion of any mischief67 to them. Having warned them however from the beginning, I am not responsible for anything that may happen; and must desire that no person will lay at my door the moon-calves which may chance to arise from any teeming68 fancy impregnated by Mr. Swedenborg’s revelations.
In conclusion I have to say that I have not interpolated my author’s dreams with any surreptitious ones of my own; but have laid a faithful abstract before the economic reader, who might not be well pleased to pay seven pounds sterling69 for a body of raving50. I have indeed omitted many circumstantial pictures of his intuitions, because they could only have served to disturb the reader’s slumber70; and the confused sense of his revelations I have now and then clothed in a more current diction. But all the important features of the sketch71 I have preserved in their native integrity.—And thus I return with some little shame from my foolish labours, from which I shall draw this moral: That it is often a very easy thing to act prudentially; but alas72! too often only after we have toiled73 to our prudence74 through a forest of delusions.
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1
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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3
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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6
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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delusions
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| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
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variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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12
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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13
interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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narrations
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| 叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 ) | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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radically
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| ad.根本地，本质地 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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corporeal
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| adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的 | |
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corporeally
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| adv.肉体上，物质上 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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affinities
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| n.密切关系( affinity的名词复数 )；亲近；（生性）喜爱；类同 | |
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converses
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的第三人称单数 ) | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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Saturn
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| n.农神，土星 | |
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49
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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50
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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51
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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52
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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conceits
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| 高傲( conceit的名词复数 )； 自以为； 巧妙的词语； 别出心裁的比喻 | |
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kernel
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| n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心 | |
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arcades
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| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
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56
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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transcribing
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| （用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的现在分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音） | |
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63
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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abortions
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| n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育 | |
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67
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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70
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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71
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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73
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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74
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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