594. The meaning of from human to beast to creeping animal as the fact that whatever was in their will would annihilate them can be seen from the symbolism of human, beast, and creeping animal.
A human is human only by virtue of will and intellect. These faculties distinguish humans from animals. All other characteristics are shared between them. Among the people being described here, every impulse for good and every inkling of truth had died out. Insane longings arose to replace the will for good and absurd delusions to replace the comprehension of truth, and these delusions joined forces with those longings. So after these people had essentially blotted out all remaining traces of will and intellect in this way, they themselves necessarily became extinct.
Prior discussions of beasts and creeping animals have established the fact that all aspects of the will are referred to as these creatures [§§44-46, 246]. Here, though, because of the nature of the people described, beasts do not symbolize positive emotions but negative ones, and consequently corrupt desires. And creeping animals symbolize the lower pleasures — bodily and sensual pleasures.
There is no further need for proof from the Word that animals and reptiles have this symbolism, since examples appear above in §§45, 46, 142, and 143; please see there.
