PHILOS 2F03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Pineal Gland
22 Sep 2014
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Thinking action of the soul on itself: cognition, memory, imagination action of the soul on the body: will. The soul is unified and completely together. What might be seen as a conflict in the soul is actually a conflict between body and mind. Cooped up in the pineal gland the soul is bombarded by animal spirits. The agitated animal spirits can be overwhelming and take hold on the soul. Unitary soul against an enormously complicated machine. The passions are linked to the animal body, they are the connection we have with beats. To transcend the passions is to transcend the body. The passions for descartes however are uniquely human. The passions connect us to the body. Animals have no passions at all because they have no thoughts at all. Angels and demons have no passions because they have no body hence no animal spirits. It must be a mistake to think we can overcome passions.
