696. The fifth memorable occurrence. On one occasion I prayed to the Lord to be allowed to speak to followers of Aristotle, followers of Descartes, and followers of Leibniz all at once, so that I could learn what their thoughts were on the interaction between the soul and the body.

After I said this prayer, nine men were standing around me: three Aristotelians, three Cartesians, and three Leibnizians. The worshipers of Aristotle were to my left; the adherents of Descartes were to my right; and the supporters of Leibniz were behind me. At a great distance from me and quite far from each other, I saw three people wearing laurel. An inflow from heaven allowed me to perceive that they were the aforementioned masters and leaders themselves. One other person was standing behind Leibniz and holding the hem of his garment in his hand; I was told it was Wolff.

[2] When the nine men noticed each other, they greeted and spoke to each other cordially at first. Soon, however, a spirit rose up from hell with a flaming torch in his right hand. He waved it back and forth before their faces. This made them become enemies with each other, three by three. They stared at the other groups with grim looks on their faces because they had all been overcome with a lust for arguing and disputation.

The Aristotelians, who were also scholastics, went first. They said, "Surely everyone sees that objects flow in through our senses to our souls, just as someone goes in through a doorway into a room. The soul experiences thought on the basis of that inflow. For example, when a man in love sees his beautiful bride, his eyes light up and bring his love for her to his soul. When misers see bags full of coins, all their senses feel a burning desire for the money; the senses bring this desire to their soul and stir up a longing to take it for themselves. When arrogant people hear someone praising them, their ears perk up and carry the praises to their soul. The bodily senses are entrances; they provide the only access to the soul. From these examples and countless others like them, the inescapable conclusion is that inflow comes from nature; it is physical. "

[3] The adherents of Descartes responded to this by pointing their fingers at their foreheads and then retracting them. "Oh, you are just speaking from how things appear to be!" they said. "Don't you know that it is not the eye but the soul that loves the young bride? It is not the physical senses that feel their own longing for the money in the bags; it is the soul. It is not the ear that seizes on the praises of flatterers. Perception leads to sensation, and perception belongs not to the external organ but to the soul.

"Say, if you can, what causes the tongue and lips to speak if it is not thought? What causes the hands to do work if it is not the will? And thought and will belong to the soul. If not the soul, what causes the eye to see, the ears to hear, and the other organs to sense things and notice and pay attention to them? From these and countless other examples, all who have wisdom that transcends their bodily senses conclude that there is no inflow of the body into the soul. The only inflow is of the soul into the body. We refer to this as occasional inflow and also spiritual inflow. "

[4] Upon hearing this the three men who were standing behind the other groups of three, the supporters of Leibniz, raised their voices and said, "We have heard these arguments from both sides and have compared them. In many regards the arguments of the latter group are stronger than those of the first group; but in many other respects, the arguments of the first group are stronger. Therefore, if we may, we are going to combine the two. "

"How?" the others asked.

"There is no inflow from the soul into the body," they said, "and there is no inflow from the body into the soul. Instead, they both function side-by-side instantaneously and to the same effect. Our distinguished author gave this process a beautiful name: preestablished harmony. "

[5] At this point the spirit from hell came up and appeared again with the flaming torch in his hand, but this time it was in his left hand. He waved it back and forth near the backs of their heads. As a result, the ideas they all had became confused. They exclaimed, "Neither our soul nor our body knows which position to take! We should settle this argument by drawing lots. We will accept whichever lot is drawn first. "

They took three slips of paper, and wrote physical inflow on one, spiritual inflow on another, and preestablished harmony on the third. They placed all three in a deep hat, and chose someone to make the draw. He put in his hand and pulled out the slip that said spiritual inflow. Once they had seen it and read it, they all said, "We should adopt this, because it is what came up first. " But some said this in a clear and steady voice, while others said it faintly and hesitantly.

An angel suddenly appeared standing next to them and said, "Don't think that the slip of paper that said spiritual inflow was drawn by chance; that was providence. Because your ideas are confused, you don't see the truth of it, but in fact the real truth offered itself to your hand as the correct answer so that you would come to favor it. "