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Single Idea 3654
[filed under theme 17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 2. Interactionism
]
Full Idea
The soul is united with the body in just one place, a gland (the pineal) in the centre of the brain. It is placed so that its slightest movement will affect the passions, and it plays the essential role of uniting the two symmetrical sides of the body.
Gist of Idea
The pineal gland links soul to body, and unites the two symmetrical sides of the body
Source
report of René Descartes (The Passions of the Soul [1649], §31) by PG - Db (ideas)
Book Ref
Descartes,René: 'Philosophical Essays and Correspondence', ed/tr. Ariew,Roger [Hackett 2000], p.307
A Reaction
See Idea 4862 for Spinoza's nice response to Descartes' proposal. If Descartes had followed brain research for the last four hundred years, at what point would he have wavered? If every single part of the brain seems to 'interact', dualism looks unlikely.
Related Idea
Idea 4862
Can the pineal gland be moved more slowly or quickly by the mind than by animal spirits? [Spinoza on Descartes]
The
18 ideas
with the same theme
[mind and matter mutually affect one another]:
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24039
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All the emotions seem to involve the body, simultaneously with the feeling
[Aristotle]
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24056
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The soul (or parts of it) is not separable from the body
[Aristotle]
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5695
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Only bodies can touch one another
[Lucretius]
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6683
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The contact of spirit and body is utterly amazing, and incomprehensible
[Augustine]
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3400
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Things must have parts to intermingle
[Gassendi]
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3616
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The soul must unite with the body to have appetites and sensations
[Descartes]
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6153
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Interaction between mental and physical seems to violate the principle of conservation of energy
[Rowlands on Descartes]
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3654
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The pineal gland links soul to body, and unites the two symmetrical sides of the body
[Descartes, by PG]
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6553
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Descartes discussed the interaction problem, and compared it with gravity
[Descartes, by Lycan]
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3469
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Mind and brain don't interact if they are the same
[Searle]
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3409
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Mental substance causation makes physics incomplete
[Kim]
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2446
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Cartesians consider interaction to be a miracle
[Fodor]
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2445
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Semantics v syntax is the interaction problem all over again
[Fodor]
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9293
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Body-spirit interaction ought to result in losses and increases of energy in the material world
[Teichmann]
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3911
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The very concept of a substance denies the possibility of mutual interaction and dependence
[Scruton]
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2409
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Maybe dualist interaction is possible at the quantum level?
[Chalmers]
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2411
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Supervenience makes interaction laws possible
[Chalmers]
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4590
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If causation is just regularities in events, the interaction of mind and body is not a special problem
[Heil]
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