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Kant, Immanuel - Dreams of a Spirit Seer - 12 Chapter Three
Identifier
015121
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
This is pure magic, marvellous writing.
There are actually two ways to read this - the dangers of relying on spiritual experience, but also the benefits and the need for careful comparisons between observations.
A description of the experience
THIRD CHAPTER.
ANTIKABALA.
A FRAGMENT OF COMMON PHILOSOPHY AIMING TO ABOLISH COMMUNION WITH THE SPIRIT-WORLD.
Aristotle says, somewhere, “When we are awake, we have a common world, but when we dream, everybody is his own.”
It seems to me that it ought to be possible to reverse this latter proposition and say, if, among different human beings, every one has his own world, it may be supposed that they dream. With this understanding we will view the various imaginary worlds of these air-architects which each one inhabits quietly to the exclusion of others.
Behold, for example, him who inhabits the Order of Things as it was framed by Wolf out of but little building material obtained from experience, but many conceptions gotten on the sly.
Or we will view those who inhabit the world produced by Crusius out of nothing, by means of a few magical sayings about the thinkable and the unthinkable.
And, as we find that their visions are contradictory, we will patiently wait until the gentlemen have finished dreaming.
For if, at some time, by the will of God, they wake up, i.e., open their eyes to such a view as does not exclude conformity with other people’s 'common sense', then none of them will see anything that does not appear evident and certain in the light of their proofs to others also, and the philosophers will then inhabit a common world, of the kind which mathematicians have already occupied for a long time.
And this event cannot be delayed much longer, if certain signs and predictions, which for some time have appeared over the horizon of science, can be trusted