Full Idea
It is not sufficient that the reasonable soul should be lodged in the body like a pilot in a ship, unless perhaps to move its limbs, but it needs to be united more closely with the body in order to have sensations and appetites, and so be a true man.
Gist of Idea
The soul must unite with the body to have appetites and sensations
Source
René Descartes (A Discourse on Method [1637], §5.59)
Book Reference
Descartes,René: 'Discourse on Method/The Meditations', ed/tr. Sutcliffe,F.E. [Penguin 1968], p.76
A Reaction
The idea that the pineal gland is the link suggests that Descartes has the 'pilot' view, but this idea shows that he believes in very close and complex interaction between mind and body. But how can a mind 'have' appetites if it has no physical needs?
Related Idea
Idea 24039 All the emotions seem to involve the body, simultaneously with the feeling [Aristotle]