The philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg : God, Man and the cosmos

senses, are their life. They have no other life than this. Animal love is their life and their bodies are perfectly adapted forms for the

activities of their love or life.

Next consider vegetation. Here, life as love is exercised and manifests itself as the effort to produce fruit and seed. Every part of the plant, taken together or considered separately, is formed for the performance of the effort to produce fruit and seed. This is the essence of the use of vegetative life. Its vegetable life may be symbolically described as the love of producing vegetative uses.

Finally consider the mineral kingdom. Herein life is manifested as purposed and purposive motion. The atoms ‘mate’ as it were; protons and electrons unite in different proportions, according to which they produce the different forms of physical substances which in general are liquids, solids and gases in an indefinite variety of forms, all of which perform uses to the whole

economy.

Notice, too, how the three kingdoms of nature are formed to serve an end beyond themselves—and what but life or love can create and perform uses?

The mineral kingdom exists to serve the vegetable kingdom. Both of these exist to serve the animal kingdom. All of them exist to serve the human kingdom, and man exists—for what end? Here we return to the idea of God, and the significance of a true idea of God to a rational understanding of the Universe.

It has been affirmed that life and love are synonymous terms; but what in essence is love? The answer shall be given in Swedenborg’s own words. Under the proposition that “the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom cannot otherwise than Be and Exist in Others created by Itself’ he says—

“The very quality of love is not to love self, but it is to love

others and to be conjoined to them by love. The very quality

of love also is to be loved by others, for thus conjunction is

effected . . . . Love consists in this, that its own is another’s; 5