Emmanuel Swedenborg's philosophy of the human organism

EMMANUEL SWEDENBORG'’S PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN ORGANISM

Emmanuel Swedenborg is an important and neglected figure in the history of European thought. Dimitrije Mitrinovié, who founded the New Atlantis, often drew attention to his importance as a philosopher and scientist. Previous New Atlantis Foundation Lectures have been given about men whose significance in the development of thought has been ignored, or about aspects of the work of more famous men which have not been generally appreciated. Swedenborg is generally known as a mystic and theologian, while the great contributions he has made to the problems of science and of scientific thinking have been largely overlooked.

He is the first in modern times to give to the human body the central place in a philosophic system. He revives the Greek notion of Man himself as a miniature universe: Man the microcosm within the universe or macrocosm. He shows that a scientific approach to the human organism must be threefold. The three dimensions which he explores are: the physical universe, the human body, and lastly, Man’s individual and social experience. Each of these approaches coincides with a period of Swedenborg’s life and it is important for each stage to consider both his personal biography and the historical background against which he worked. In spite of the great differences in their style, Swedenborg’s writings at different periods form a consistent whole, and each of the three stages follows on and completes the previous one. This threefold approach to the human organism includes a simultaneous

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