Mind and Body- Dualism
Like most philosophers of his time, Descartes was a dualist; he believed that each person possessed a mind – a uniquely human attribute that was not subject to the laws of the universe. But his thinking differed from that of his predecessors in one important way; he was the first to suggest that a link exists between the human mind and its purely physical housing, the brain. He believed that the mind controlled the movements of the body, while the body, through its sense organs, supplied the mind with information about what was happening in the environment. In particular, he hypothesized that this interaction took place in the pineal body, a small organ situated on the top of the brain stem, buried beneath the cerebral hemispheres. He noted that the brain contained hollow chambers (the ventricles) that were filled with fluid, and he hypothesized that this fluid was under pressure. When the mind decided to perform an action, it tilted the pineal body in a particular direction like a little joystick, causing fluid flow from the brain to the appropriate set of nerves. This flow of fluid caused the same muscles to inflate and move.
Descartes saw the competition between the body and soul as the essence of the human condition. His interest in the mind and body and his study of physiology led to some views that were used for quite some time, one being that of mechanization, the idea that a body with no soul was mechanical in nature and incapable of feeling. Or more closely related to psychology he proposed that external motions affect the peripheral ends of the nerve fibrils, which in turn displace the central ends. As these are displaced the pattern of interfibrillarspace is rearranged and the flow of spirits is thereby directed into the appropriate nerves. It was this articulation for a response that has lead to a general credit for the founding of the reflex theory, something that has proven to be of great interest to psychologist. Future psychologists such as Fechner have used a form of the mechanization.
Descartes also was interested in the brain and its function as well as its physical make up. Descartes' theory that the brain is the most important organ in the mediation of behavior certainly would be a contributing factor to the theories of people like Sigmund Freud. The works of Descartes have also played a role in the development of the field of neuropsychology, which is extremely prevalent today. By drawing a radical ontological distinction between body as extended and mind as pure thought, Descartes, in search of certitude, had paradoxically created intellectual chaos.
Like most philosophers of his time, Descartes was a dualist; he believed that each person possessed a mind – a uniquely human attribute that was not subject to the laws of the universe. But his thinking differed from that of his predecessors in one important way; he was the first to suggest that a link exists between the human mind and its purely physical housing, the brain. He believed that the mind controlled the movements of the body, while the body, through its sense organs, supplied the mind with information about what was happening in the environment. In particular, he hypothesized that this interaction took place in the pineal body, a small organ situated on the top of the brain stem, buried beneath the cerebral hemispheres. He noted that the brain contained hollow chambers (the ventricles) that were filled with fluid, and he hypothesized that this fluid was under pressure. When the mind decided to perform an action, it tilted the pineal body in a particular direction like a little joystick, causing fluid flow from the brain to the appropriate set of nerves. This flow of fluid caused the same muscles to inflate and move.
Descartes saw the competition between the body and soul as the essence of the human condition. His interest in the mind and body and his study of physiology led to some views that were used for quite some time, one being that of mechanization, the idea that a body with no soul was mechanical in nature and incapable of feeling. Or more closely related to psychology he proposed that external motions affect the peripheral ends of the nerve fibrils, which in turn displace the central ends. As these are displaced the pattern of interfibrillarspace is rearranged and the flow of spirits is thereby directed into the appropriate nerves. It was this articulation for a response that has lead to a general credit for the founding of the reflex theory, something that has proven to be of great interest to psychologist. Future psychologists such as Fechner have used a form of the mechanization.
Descartes also was interested in the brain and its function as well as its physical make up. Descartes' theory that the brain is the most important organ in the mediation of behavior certainly would be a contributing factor to the theories of people like Sigmund Freud. The works of Descartes have also played a role in the development of the field of neuropsychology, which is extremely prevalent today. By drawing a radical ontological distinction between body as extended and mind as pure thought, Descartes, in search of certitude, had paradoxically created intellectual chaos.
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