Notes on Assagioli’s The Training of the Will

Notes on Roberto Assagioli’s article The Training of the Will.

See also:

• The Training of the Will quiz
• Training the Will

People

The following people are mentioned in the article:

• Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher known for his Meditations, a series of personal writings in which he reflects on his own thoughts and experiences. It specifically discusses the concept of the human will, encouraging the exercise of the will to overcome negative thoughts and emotions, and to strive for virtue and wisdom.
• St. Augustine was a Christian theologian and bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa. He is considered one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. In his book Confessions, he talks about the concept of human will in the context of Christianity, discussing the idea that human beings have free will and the responsibility to use it to choose between good and evil.
• Petrarch was an Italian poet and scholar who is considered the father of humanism. He is best known for his Canzoniere, a collection of poems about his love for Laura.
• Montaigne was a French Renaissance writer who is best known for his Essais, a collection of personal essays in which he reflects on various aspects of human nature and experience.
• St. Teresa of Avila was a Spanish mystic, writer, and reformer of the Carmelite order.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher, writer, and political theorist whose works, including The Social Contract and Confessions, had a major influence on the development of political and social thought.
• Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian nationalist, philosopher and politician, and one of the main founders of the Italian Risorgimento
• Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who played a key role in the development of American transcendentalism.
• Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, who successfully navigated the country through the Civil War, and abolished slavery, and strengthened the federal government and the economy.
• Henri-Frédéric Amiel was a Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic, known for his Journal intime, a collection of personal reflections on various topics.
• Ramakrishna was an Indian mystic and yogi during the 19th century, considered a prophet in the Indian subcontinent.
• Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath from India, who was a poet, philosopher, and polymath. He was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913
• Adele Kamm was a Swiss philosopher and political economist who was a major figure in the development of social policy in Switzerland.
• Count Hermann Keyserling was a German philosopher and writer who was a leading exponent of the ideas of the European New Right.
• Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, and theatre director, primarily known for his operas.
• Helen Keller was an American author, lecturer and political activist, who was blind and deaf.
• Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology.
• Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic, widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works include classics such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations.
• Honore de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright of the 19th century, known for his works such as The Human Comedy and Lost Illusions. He was considered a leading figure of French literature, and has been credited with creating a new literary genre, the psychological novel.
• Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, commonly known as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer, considered one of the greatest authors of all time, famous for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
• Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Russian novelist, philosopher, and journalist, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential novelists of the 19th century. His works include Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and Notes from Underground.
• Alessandro Manzoni was an Italian poet and novelist, widely considered one of the most important figures in the Italian literary tradition. His most famous work is The Betrothed.
• Romain Rolland was a French writer and painter, a leader of the French pacifist movement during World War I, and a member of the Académie française.
• Hermann Hesse was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, best known for his novels, including Demian, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game. In Siddhartha, Hesse tells the story of a young man’s spiritual journey to enlightenment and it specifically discusses the concept of the human will. The novel explores the idea that true enlightenment can only be achieved through the individual’s own efforts, and the importance of will in reaching self-knowledge and inner peace.
• Pearl S. Buck was an American writer and novelist, best known for her novels about China, including The Good Earth, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, and The Living Reed. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938.
• J.B Priestley was an English novelist, playwright, and broadcaster, best known for his novels such as The Good Companions and Bright Day, and his plays including An Inspector Calls and Time and the Conways. He was a prominent figure in the literary and cultural life of Britain during the 1930s and 1940s. In An Inspector Calls, the Inspector is a mystical figure who represents the voice of the collective conscience, He encourages the characters to take responsibility for their actions and to exercise their will to change their lives.
• Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, commonly known as Caligula, was the Roman Emperor from AD 37 to AD 41. He was known for his cruelty, tyranny, and extravagance, and his reign is considered a low point in Roman history.
• Grigori Rasputin was a Russian mystic and advisor to the Romanov family, who played a significant role in the politics of Russia in the early 20th century. He was known for his influence over the Tsarina Alexandra and for his controversial behavior.
• Adolf Hitler was a German politician and leader of the Nazi Party who rose to power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and later Führer in 1934. Hitler is known for his role in World War II and the Holocaust.
• Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He is best known for painting the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.
• Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance, widely considered as one of the greatest artists of all time. He is best known for his sculptures David and Pietà and for painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
• Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, and theatre director, primarily known for his operas, including the Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal.
• Tame – unknown.
• August Dołęga Cieszkowski was a Polish philosopher, logician, and psychologist who developed a theory of intentionality, which is the relation between the mind and the objects of its attention. He is known for his famous quote “I will, therefore I think and am.”
• William James was an American philosopher, psychologist, and physician, who was one of the leading figures in the development of psychology and philosophy in the United States in the late 19th century. He is best known for his work on the psychology of emotion, the will to believe, and the principles of pragmatism.
• E. Boyd Barrett was an American psychologist who developed a method of will training based on exercises, he wrote a book called Strength of Will and How to Develop It.
• Martin Stanislas Gillet was a Dominican friar and Master of the Order of Preachers, known for his intellectual contributions to religious and educational thought. He co-authored the book Les Miracles de la Volonté with Jules Payot, exploring the development of willpower and its role in personal and spiritual growth, emphasizing the integration of will in holistic human development.
• Gustave Le Bon was a French polymath, known for his work in the fields of psychology, sociology, and anthropology, He is best known for his book The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind in which he studied the behavior of crowds and their psychology.
• Charles Baudouin was a French psychologist, philosopher, and writer, who was a leading exponent of the ideas of the New Thought movement in France. He wrote several books, including Suggestion and Autosuggestion and The Psychology of the Future in which he describes the workings of the subconscious mind and the ways of utilizing it in therapy and education.

Definitions

Ptolemaic outlook

The “Ptolemaic outlook” refers to the geocentric model of the universe developed by the ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy. This model posits that the Earth is at the center of the universe, and that the Sun, Moon, and planets all orbit around it. This model was widely accepted in ancient times and was the dominant view of the universe until the 16th century, when it was challenged by the heliocentric model proposed by astronomers such as Copernicus and Galileo.

It is used as a metaphor for any view that is outdated, or that is based on outdated or incorrect assumptions.

Assagioli used it to describe the self-centered perspective in which an individual refers everything to themselves, only considers their own ideas and emotions, and sees themselves as the center of the universe. He describes this as a “fundamental error of perspective,” implying that this self-centered perspective is outdated and not open to new ideas or perspectives, leading to overbearing or fanatical behavior, which can cause harm even with the best intentions.

Copernican revolution

The “Copernican Revolution” refers to the shift in scientific thinking that occurred during the 16th and 17th centuries, when the work of the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus challenged the prevailing view of the universe, which was based on the Ptolemaic system (see above).

Copernicus proposed a heliocentric model of the universe, positing that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and that the Earth and other planets orbit around it. This idea was revolutionary at the time, as it challenged the long-held beliefs of the Catholic Church and the scientific community. The idea of the sun being at the center of the universe was not only a scientific breakthrough but also had a great impact on philosophy, theology and art.

The “Copernican Revolution” is also used as a metaphor for any paradigm shift in thinking, where old assumptions are challenged and replaced by new ones, resulting in a fundamental change in understanding and perspective.

Assagioli uses it to refer to a change in perspective that occurs as a result of reflective meditation. Through quieting the mind and emotions, and contemplating the grandeur of the universe, one realizes that they are not at the center of the universe but rather a small part of it. This realization leads to an inner change, in which one loses their false sense of importance and instead feels in tune with the universe. This change is described as an “inner ‘Copernican Revolution’.”

Empathy

Assagioli used the definition of empathy from Webster’s dictionary: “Imaginative projection of one’s own consciousness into another being.” The definition has been updated to: “the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it.” See empathy (Merriam-Webster)