Nungali Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) A little bit---mostly the theology, though. I do have a free pdf that pertains to the brain "considered anatomically, physiologically, and philosophically", though I haven't had much time to read it with all of the homework and 'work' work that I have. What I have read about Swedenborg's psychological idea, though, hasn't been too compelling for me. Once I get down to reading what he actually wrote, I may change my mind. In general, though, getting familiar with the computational procession and structure of the mind tends to minimize the relevance that a lot of classical and pre-calssical psychology has...at least, that is my experience... In some ways, it's kind of like Minsky's society of mind....However, instead of experiencing the partitions of mind as autonomous agentive things (which is what minsky seems to suggest) I tend to see them as appendages. They don't tend to do too much on their own except looping; and they loop through different processes depending on how they're primed. So, the only time things start going off on their own is if they're not consciously primed. Hence, there's only a breakdown in the consolidated nature of mind (for me) if there are situations that sap my resources and mechanically impede my ability to be mindful. At least, that is the experience that I've had..... If Swedenborg can provide some ideas that are new and would heavily qualify how I interpret my experiences, then perhaps things could change. But, so far, I'm still sticking to my above and aforementioned conclusion. Edit: --Did you have something specific in mind with your reference to Swedenborg? Yes, the 'hierarchy of spirits' idea - how we are standing 'on the crossroads' - so to speak ... in relation to this subject of 'sub-personalities' etc . This is a brief outline of it and how it was used in clinical professional therapy; " By an extraordinary series of circumstances a confirmation appears to have been found for one of Emanuel Swedenborg's more unusual doctrines-that man's life depends on his relationship to a hierarchy of spirits. Out of my professional role as a clinical psychologist in a state mental hospital and my own personal interest, I set out to describe as faithfully as possible mental patients' experiences of hallucinations. A discovery four years ago helped me to get a relatively rich and consistent picture of the patients' experience. Though I noticed similarities with Swedenborg's description of the relationships of man to spirits it was only three years after all the major findings on hallucinations had been made that the striking similarity between what Twentieth-Century patients describe and Swedenborg's Eighteenth-Century accounts became apparent to me. I then collected as many details as possible of his description. I found that Swedenborg's system not only is an almost perfect fit with patients' experiences, but even more impressively accounts for otherwise quite puzzling aspects of hallucinations. I will first describe how I worked and my findings, and then relate this to Swedenborg's work. " Dr Wilson VanDusen http://www.theisticpsychology.org/books/w.vandusen/presence_spirits.htm Edited February 18, 2015 by Nungali 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
