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The term "psychological method" comes from "psychological proofs." On the basis of these proofs it is possible to see the defects of logical thinking in regions inaccessible to it or in questions too big for it, and, in exactly the same way, it is often possible to see the direction in which lie probable solutions to problems which seem, or appear to be, insoluble. But this does not mean that with the help of the psychological method it will always be possible to find solutions to problems too difficult or too big for the logical mind. Real solutions can come only from higher mind possessing higher knowledge, that is, from esotericism. This is the difference between the psychological method and the esoteric method. Let us try to imagine the four methods of observation and reasoning in relation to the room in which I am writing this. The defective method is based upon glance at the room through the keyhole or through a narrow slit and its characteristic feature is the certainty that what is seen through the keyhole or the slit represents all there is and that there is and can be nothing else in it except what is visible in this way. Given a certain imagination and a tendency toward superstition the defective method can make something very strange or monstrous out of an ordinary room. The logical method is based upon glance at the room from one definite spot, at one definite angle, and usually without enough light. Too big a confidence in it and the defence of this angle of vision makes the logical method defective. The psychological method compared with the first two would be like a view of the room in daylight, moving about in it in various directions, knowing the objects in it and so on. It is quite clear that it is possible to learn more about the room in this way than by the logical method, and that it is possible to find many mistakes and wrong conclusions of the defective method. The esoteric method of approach to the study of the room would include not only the the whole room with everything it contains but the whole house, all the people in it with all their relationships and their occupations; and further, the position of the house in the street, of the street in the town, of the town in the country, of the country on the earth, of the earth in the solar system, and so on. The esoteric method is limited by nothing and always connects every given thing, however small it may be, with the whole. Examples of "psychological," "logical" and "defective" thinking abound around us. Occasionally we meet with the psychological method in science. In psychology itself the "psychological method" leads inevitably to the recognition of the fact that human consciousness is merely a particular instance of consciousness and that an intelligence exists which is many times superior to the ordinary human intelligence. And only a psychology which starts from this proposition and has this proposition as its foundation can be called scientific. In other spheres of knowledge psychological thinking lies at the root of all real discoveries, but it usually does not keep long. I mean that as soon as ideas which have been found and established by the psychological method become everybody's property and begin to be looked upon as permanent and accepted they become logical and, in their application to phenomena of a greater size, defective. For instance, Darwin -- his discoveries and his ideas were the product of psychological thinking of the very highest quality. But they had already become logical with his followers and, later on, they became undoubtedly defective, because they stood in the way of the free development of thought. This is exactly what Ibsen's Dr.Stockmann meant when he spoke about ageing truths. |
