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Full Idea
The seat of the powers of the soul is in the brain, as is clearly shown by the fact that wounds and accidents affecting the head immediately harm the faculties of the soul.
Gist of Idea
The soul is in the brain, as shown by head injuries
Source
Michel de Montaigne (Apology for Raymond Sebond [1580], p.0614)
Book Ref
Montaigne,Michel de: 'The Complete Essays', ed/tr. Screech,M.A. [Penguin 1987], p.614
A Reaction
At last someone has finally got the facts clear. It seems surprising that the Greeks never clearly grasped this piece of irrefutable evidence - even those Greeks who speculated that the brain was the key. Here we have a fixed fact of philosophy of mind.
6258 | Virtue is the distinctive mark of truth, and its greatest product [Montaigne] |
6259 | Why can't a wise man doubt everything? [Montaigne] |
6260 | Sceptics say there is truth, but no means of making or testing lasting judgements [Montaigne] |
6261 | The soul is in the brain, as shown by head injuries [Montaigne] |
6262 | We lack some sense or other, and hence objects may have hidden features [Montaigne] |
6263 | No wisdom could make us comfortably walk a wide beam if it was high in the air [Montaigne] |