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Religious Behaviorism
Chapter 1
By Dr. Leon James
Here You Will Find a List of Items Found in This Chapter:
- Definitional Premises:
1. Definitional Premises:
- Natural existence, [C], involves the appearance, (hallucinatory), of freedom at
the cognitive [B], and motivational [A], levels. Actually, motivational [A] activity, (of
angels with our heavenly body), streams into our WILL [A], and determines its states
of affections independently of the person's apparent but imagined freedom of
feelings. From the WILL [A] thestreaming influx descends to the INTELLECT
[B] and determines its states of reasons independently of the person's apparent
but imagined freedom of reasoning. However, fromthere the influx actually streams into
the imagination where the effects of the influx are directly perceived (conscious).
Hence, from these constantly active and changing effects in the imagination, (felt
as experience), the person imagines or constructs imaginative material constructions and
theories of the "freedoms" (of thinking and feeling).
- Spiritual existence [B], involves the hallucinatory appearance of freedom at the
motivational [A] level, (as before death), but the cognitive [B] level now forms the plane
of conscious existence, so that "spirits", (people after death in their
spiritual bodies), are conscious of their reasoning and reflections, while their motor
executions and outside environment are constrained effects, (no longer freedom, as
before). Thus, spirits are not free to imagine things individually but from a collective
imagination, though they retain individual reasoning and reflections.
- Heavenly existence [A], involves the conscious existence or perception of
affections, hence the will's reception of influx from God Jesus. Thus, angels and devils
have freedom of affections, (individual conscious existence) but have collective reasoning
and collective images, (natural correspondences- -since heavenly sensorimotor [C], as well
as spiritual [C], are images of the natural.
- In summary, as an angel's will affects an individual, (unique freedom in heaven),
there arises two consequences. On the one hand, in heaven, the affect comes out
of the angel and takes on the form of collective heavenly society reasoning and thoughts
which eventually is external, celestial natural appearances, (sensations, impressions, and
world of angels). On the other hand , in the spirit world, the affect descends
into the conscious individual thoughts of spirits and collective imaginings
of spirit societies. From there it descends into the conscious individual
imaginings of people on earth. Therefore, what people on earth imagine is their
own, what spirits think and reason is their own, and what angels and devils love
is their own. Also, people's thoughts and reasoning are not their own, neither are
their loves. Similarly, what spirits love is not their own, while their
imaginings are held collectively, (hence, shared but not owned). The following figures
exhibits these relations.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Figure 01: Graphic Table of Motivation, Cognition, and Sensorimotor:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Figure 02: Emanuel Swedenborg: Rational Psychology
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Thus, people on earth [I], have their conscious existence in [C], the outermost
for example, the lower self, (Motor Executions in Time/Space), while the intermediate and
inmost selves act into the Motor Executions unconsciously. This means that
conscious reflection [I], is but an appearance and saving these appearances is a
materialistic hallucination. Upon death, (or for some, prior to that- -see REGENERATION),
the outermost is subject to spiritual laws [II], (rather than natural, as before hence,
[C]). The inmost is still not available to the conscious existence [A]. Upon second death
for example, becoming an angel or a devil, the inmost is the seat of conscious existence
[A], while the other two are only appearances [B] and [C]. Thus, there is an evolution of
the conscious from outermost existence in the natural, to the inner existence of the
spiritual, to the inmost existence of the affections, (heavenly substance and laws). Each
stage of conscious existence is actually in one degree only, (either [C], [B], or [A]),
while the other two are corresponding, (constrained), appearances.
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