Berger discusses the foundation of Blake's philosophy, which is, according to Berger, his mysticism. The author defines the word mysticism as \"a concentration of all the soul's energies upon some supernatural object, conceived of and loved as a living personality.” In other words, it is the mystic's eternal relationship and fascination with what he/she believes is the Truth. The author argues that it is the mystic's \"dissatisfaction with this world\" that propels him/her to something greater or different. There are two essential elements in every mystic: love and desire, which are both strictly emotional. However, Blake's mysticism goes beyond simply emotions of love and desire, but is more so driven by intellect and imagination. Blake articulated his thoughts through his art and he felt the need for his vision to be seen by others.
\nBlake did not espouse any of the popular movements in human thought of his time. In fact, it could be said that he was averse to everything that was going on during his time period. His work shows him to be very much against the rational age, and he shows contempt towards purely rational figures like Voltaire, Newton, and Locke. Locke put forth his strong trust in the human senses. The author sums up his views on what Blake’s metaphysics of the soul could be by saying that “his [Blake] system rests upon the destruction of two principles: that of the evidence of our senses, and that of reliance on human reason.” The author states Blake believes the human senses are not to be trusted. The reality can be perceived by a sixth sense, which is internal vision.
\nThe source was useful in describing what Blake’s views are. It is a good starter on what Blake believes is in existence and how it can be described. It answers the basic question on whether or not Blake believes in a completely sensual and materialistic soul or in a more supernatural soul. The author also loosely defines mysticism and Blake’s mysticism, which is essential in understanding his metaphysics.
", "tags": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2011-02-12T04:21:13Z", "dateModified": "2011-02-12T04:21:13Z" } }, { "key": "EPTNRTW4", "version": 1, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 38179, "name": "Blake: Individuality and Selfhood. 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ENGL1102-L", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/FH6H66Q7", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l/items/FH6H66Q7", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 513346, "username": "hhabib6", "name": "Hamid Habib", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/hhabib6", "type": "text/html" } } }, "creatorSummary": "Berger and Conner", "parsedDate": "1915", "numChildren": 2 }, "data": { "key": "FH6H66Q7", "version": 1, "itemType": "book", "title": "William Blake: poet and mystic", "creators": [ { "creatorType": "author", "firstName": "Pierre", "lastName": "Berger" }, { "creatorType": "author", "firstName": "Daniel Henry", "lastName": "Conner" } ], "abstractNote": "", "series": "", "seriesNumber": "", "volume": "", "numberOfVolumes": "", "edition": "", "date": "1915", "publisher": "E. P. Dutton & co.", "place": "", "originalDate": "", "originalPublisher": "", "originalPlace": "", "format": "", "numPages": "436", "ISBN": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "", "accessDate": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "William Blake", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "Google Books", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "ENGL-1102 L" }, { "tag": "Hamid R. Habib" }, { "tag": "Human soul" }, { "tag": "Intellect" }, { "tag": "Locke" }, { "tag": "Materialism" }, { "tag": "Mysticism" }, { "tag": "Reason" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2011-02-12T04:21:13Z", "dateModified": "2011-02-12T04:21:13Z" } }, { "key": "7XZTJKST", "version": 1, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 38179, "name": "Blake: Individuality and Selfhood. ENGL1102-L", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/7XZTJKST", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l/items/7XZTJKST", "type": "text/html" }, "up": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/9T7J78WT", "type": "application/json" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 513346, "username": "hhabib6", "name": "Hamid Habib", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/hhabib6", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "7XZTJKST", "version": 1, "parentItem": "9T7J78WT", "itemType": "note", "note": "Goss states that Blake believes that the human body is what marks the existence of man in the temporary and relative world. Corporeality “ground[s] existence” in this world to make it available for human understanding itself. He argues that Urizen (“Your Reason”) is given a body so that reason itself can be comprehended. However, it is the body that stops human beings from seeking greater truths. The body is a cover over a greater truth in a way. This is perhaps the reason why Blake uses “the body” in his works to facilitate the reader in understanding the greater truth. Essentially, the body is necessary to mark our existence and to bring us into being. However, it is inadequate in the sense that it can impede humans from the actual purpose the body was created for. According to Goss, Blake may suggest that the body was created to allow for the illusion of knowledge and understanding. Without a physical figure, knowledge would not exist. With the body, the possibility of knowledge exists.
\nThis source was useful to understand how Blake perceives the human body and what its functions are. It answers the question of what is the body and why it exists. This article, however, goes more into epistemology, but within that aspect addresses the metaphysics of the body and soul.
", "tags": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2011-02-12T04:21:11Z", "dateModified": "2011-02-12T04:21:11Z" } }, { "key": "9T7J78WT", "version": 1, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 38179, "name": "Blake: Individuality and Selfhood. ENGL1102-L", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/9T7J78WT", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l/items/9T7J78WT", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 513346, "username": "hhabib6", "name": "Hamid Habib", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/hhabib6", "type": "text/html" } } }, "creatorSummary": "Goss", "parsedDate": "2010", "numChildren": 1 }, "data": { "key": "9T7J78WT", "version": 1, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "What is Called Corporeal: William Blake and the Question of the Body", "creators": [ { "creatorType": "author", "firstName": "Erin", "lastName": "Goss" } ], "abstractNote": "", "publicationTitle": "University of Pennsylvania Press", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "Winter 2010", "volume": "51", "issue": "4", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "18", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "01935380", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "\"Your reason\"" }, { "tag": "Body" }, { "tag": "Corporeality" }, { "tag": "ENGL-1102 L" }, { "tag": "Epistemology" }, { "tag": "Hamid R. Habib" }, { "tag": "Human form" }, { "tag": "Knowledge" }, { "tag": "Ontology" }, { "tag": "Urizen" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2011-02-12T04:21:11Z", "dateModified": "2011-02-12T04:21:11Z" } }, { "key": "3PZ3VE8B", "version": 1, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 38179, "name": "Blake: Individuality and Selfhood. ENGL1102-L", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/3PZ3VE8B", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l/items/3PZ3VE8B", "type": "text/html" }, "up": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/87C2SWBI", "type": "application/json" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 513346, "username": "hhabib6", "name": "Hamid Habib", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/hhabib6", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "3PZ3VE8B", "version": 1, "parentItem": "87C2SWBI", "itemType": "note", "note": "The source states the Blakean view of the spiritual relative to the material places it at the center of various different lines of thought such as Lockean empiricism, Hobbesian materialism, Protestant antinomianism, and Muggletonian evangelism. The author puts forth the claim that Blake espouses both the material and the supernatural approach. The sensual is not excluded from philosophical pursuits, but rather it is indulged in to assist in both material and intellectual growth. Blake doesn’t deny hedonism. As much as it may seem, Blake’s ideas are not completely against Locke’s line of thought. The author quotes from Blake in the Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “Man has no Body distinct from his Soul for that calld Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses the chief inlets of Soul in this age.” This emphasizes on the soul/corporeal dichotomy of man. It shows how the senses are a window to the soul. The sources main purpose is to compare Blake’s thought to other thinkers before and during Blake.
\nThe source is particularly useful in reinforcing the belief of the soul/body dichotomy. It addresses both the issue of body and soul in relation to each other. Sources that addressed the relationship between both were rare to find. The source also makes some interesting claims that show how even though Blake was averse to most prominent thinkers of his time, he was still a product of them.
", "tags": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2011-02-12T04:21:09Z", "dateModified": "2011-02-12T04:21:09Z" } }, { "key": "87C2SWBI", "version": 1, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 38179, "name": "Blake: Individuality and Selfhood. ENGL1102-L", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/87C2SWBI", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l/items/87C2SWBI", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 513346, "username": "hhabib6", "name": "Hamid Habib", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/hhabib6", "type": "text/html" } } }, "creatorSummary": "O'Gorman", "numChildren": 1 }, "data": { "key": "87C2SWBI", "version": 1, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Visionary Materialism in the Early Works of William Blake", "creators": [ { "creatorType": "author", "firstName": "Marcel", "lastName": "O'Gorman" } ], "abstractNote": "The article reviews the book \"Visionary Materialism in the Early Works of William Blake,\" by Matthew J. A. Green.", "publicationTitle": "Romanticism", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "12", "issue": "2", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "160-162", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "1354991X", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Body" }, { "tag": "Duality" }, { "tag": "ENGL-1102 L" }, { "tag": "Empiricism" }, { "tag": "Hamid R. Habib" }, { "tag": "Hedonism" }, { "tag": "Soul" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2011-02-12T04:21:09Z", "dateModified": "2011-02-12T04:21:09Z" } }, { "key": "7FIBTIWH", "version": 1, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 38179, "name": "Blake: Individuality and Selfhood. ENGL1102-L", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/7FIBTIWH", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/blake_individuality_and_selfhood._engl1102-l/items/7FIBTIWH", "type": "text/html" }, "up": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/38179/items/CNJUV277", "type": "application/json" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 513346, "username": "hhabib6", "name": "Hamid Habib", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/hhabib6", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "7FIBTIWH", "version": 1, "parentItem": "CNJUV277", "itemType": "note", "note": "The author begins by defining what the soul is in Blake’s view. He states that Blake does not consistently show the body and soul to be exclusively male or female. One example he provides is from Blake’s design, The Soul Hovering over the Body reluctantly parting with Life, which shows a physically male figure, with a female soul. In Blake’s designs, the soul of man is largely seen as feminine. The author discusses the Bible’s views on the soul, which Blake is very much aware of. In the Bible, the soul is constituted from both body and divine essence. The Bible, however, has varying uses for the soul’s functions. At times, it is used in a positive way when it seeks God and goodness, and at other times, it is used as a faculty that drives man to his destruction. The soul lusts mostly for flesh which is a very sensual function, and it is the duty of man to have complete control of his soul’s temptations. It is interesting to note that Blake refers to the human soul as feminine, when his works seem to show that he portrayed women in a very negative light. Relative to others in his time, he did seem to sympathize with the feminist causes. Behrendt describes what the soul means to Blake. He says the soul means everything that could possibly ever matter to Blake. It is the key to everything: “ to vision, to individuation, to Eternity” For Blake, the soul is at the center of being and the “complete human entity”. Similarly to the Bible, for Blake the soul cannot be viewed separately from the sensual self. It is Blake’s belief that the soul’s experience can be facilitated by sensuality, but it cannot be limited to it. It is every human’s duty to recognize the importance of the soul and that recognition can come about from indulgence in the uses of the senses.
\nThis source was interesting in the way it compared Blake’s views to that of traditional Christianity. It was useful since it clearly defined what Blake thought is the human soul and how it exists. The content of the article was very relevant to the sub-topic of research.
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\nTo see a World in a Grain of Sand
\nAnd a Heaven in a Wild Flower
\nHold Infinity in the palm of your hand
\nAnd Eternity in an hour.
\n\n
These four lines serve to show how the rest of the poem will stand to show different cases in nature that can be applied to a greater scale in existence. In the body, Blake illustrates animals either being harmed or causing destruction when they are not satisfied or living in a perfect balance. This imbalance in nature can be applied to human nature and the animals stand as a symbol of human sensual needs and desires. When these needs and desires are not fulfilled or indulged in, they wreak havoc and damage the human soul itself. The poem encompasses the effect of sin on the human soul and the imbalance they cause throughout nature. At the end, Blake writes about the effect of the soul when one lives in darkness or light. According to Blake, one who dwells in Light acquires the vision of God, the Truth.
\nThis source was remarkable in the sense that it offered information on what the soul is capable of and how it behaves. The other sources are mainly about what the soul and body are in Blake’s view. This is more focused on the How.
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