PHILOS 2F03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Pineal Gland, The Nerves
14 Sep 2016
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They are spirits because they are distilled. The heart will boil the blood (like brandy) and make it volatile. The animal spirits are too volatile to be held within in the blood vessels and therefore travelled through the nerves and came into direct contact with the brain. Brain cells are so small that ordinary blood cannot get in therefore the animal spirits can only get in. The difference between living and a corpse is an animal spirit. A tiny cone shaped gland in the center of the brain. Descartes limits the souls involvement with the body in this little gland. Takes stimuli from all the parts of the body and there the soul gets all the data. The soul changes the pineal gland (the soul can only interact with this gland) Soul: psuche (greek, breath , anima (latin, life ) For aristotle the soul is the software and the body is the hardware. Descartes localizes the soul with geometric precision.
