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23242
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Consciousness has two parts, passively receiving sensation, and actively causing productions [Fichte]
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Full Idea:
My immediate consciousness is composed of two constituent parts, the consciousness of my passivity, the sensation; and the consciousness of my activity, in the production of an object according to the principle of causality.
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From:
Johann Fichte (The Vocation of Man [1800], 2)
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A reaction:
Kind of obvious, but unusual to make this sharp binary division. Modern neuroscience strongly militates against any and every simple binary division of brain activities.
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5718
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The mind is in the middle of the breast, because there we experience fear and joy [Lucretius]
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Full Idea:
The guiding principle of the whole body is the mind or intellect, which is firmly lodged in the mid-region of the breast. Here is felt fear and alarm, and the caressing pulse of joy. Here, then is the seat of the intellect and mind.
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From:
Lucretius (On the Nature of the Universe [c.60 BCE], III.140)
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A reaction:
Even by this date thinking people were not clear that the mind is in the brain. They paid insufficient attention to head injuries. The emotions are felt to have a location, but intellect and principles are not.
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5717
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The mind is a part of a man, just like a hand or an eye [Lucretius]
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Full Idea:
First, I maintain that the mind, which we often call the intellect, the seat of guidance and control of life, is part of a man, no less than hand or foot or eyes are parts of a whole living creature.
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From:
Lucretius (On the Nature of the Universe [c.60 BCE], III.95)
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A reaction:
Presumably Lucretius asserts this because some people were denying it. Sounds like common sense to me. The only reason I can see for anyone denying what he says is if they are desperate to survive death.
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