The interaction between body and soul takes place as a result of a special organ, the pineal gland. Descartes placed the will first among the faculties of the human soul. The main action of the affects, or passions, is to incline the soul to want those things for which the body is prepared. God himself has united body and soul, thereby distinguishing man from
Still, Descartes’s position is frustrating from a philosophical point of view, and, as Elizabeth commented, it seems most plausible that we know by means of the senses that mind and body interact, but less so that we know how this happens-especially on Descartes’s view that interaction takes place at the pineal gland.
The pineal gland was described as the “Seat of the Soul” by Renee Descartes and it is located in the centre of the brain. The main function of the pineal gland is to receive information about the state of the light-dark cycle from the environment and convey this information to produce and secrete the hormone melatonin it is the smallest endocrine gland.
Descartes was very interested in anatomy and physiology and regarded a tiny organ in the center of the brain, called the pineal gland, as the principal seat of the soul. That gland, he believed, was the place where all our thoughts are formed, the wellspring of …
The pineal gland is a tiny organ in the center of the brain that played an important role in Descartes’ philosophy. He regarded it as the principal seat of the soul and the place in which all our thoughts are formed.
In these letters, he not only identified the small gland as the conarion or pineal gland (29 January 1640, AT III:19, CSMK 143), but also added some interesting points to the Treatise of man.
The pineal gland may be moved in three ways: (1) by “the force of the soul,” provided that there is a soul in the machine; (2) by the spirits randomly swirling about in the ventricles; and (3) as a result of stimulation of the sense organs.
Today, René Descartes (1596–1650) is mainly known because of his contributions to mathematics and philosophy. But he was highly interested in anatomy and physiology as well. He paid so much attention to these subjects that it has been suggested that “if Descartes were alive today, he would be in charge of the CAT and PET scan machines in a major research hospital” (Watson 2002, p. 15). Descartes discussed the pineal gland both in his first book, the Treatise of man (written before 1637, but only published posthumously, first in an imperfect Latin translation in 1662, and then in the original French in 1664), in a number of letters written in 1640–41, and in his last book, The passions of the soul (1649).
One might think that Descartes meant that, although the pineal gland is the only organ to which the soul is immediately joined, the soul is nevertheless indirectly joined to the rest of the body by means of the threads and spirits in the nerves.
In a treatise called On the difference between spirit and soul, Qusta ibn Luqa (864–923) combined Nemesius’ ventricular localization doctrine with Galen’s account of a worm-like part of the brain that controls the flow of animal spirit between the middle and posterior ventricles. He wrote that people who want to remember look upwards because this raises the worm-like particle, opens the passage, and enables the retrieval of memories from the posterior ventricle. People who want to think, on the other hand, look down because this lowers the particle, closes the passage, and protects the spirit in the middle ventricle from being disturbed by memories stored in the posterior ventricle (Constantinus Africanus 1536, p. 310).
Reflexes are caused by direct exchanges of animal spirits between channels within the hemispheres of the brain. (Descartes did not know that there are “spinal reflexes”.) They do not necessarily give rise to ideas (in the sense of currents in the ventricles) and are not brought about by motions of the pineal gland.
The mind and senses are paths for occult energies that work through various psychophysical centers or chakras, among the highest of which is the pineal gland. These centres continue to develop as we evolve towards spirit.
Ashley is an Empowerment Coach, Spiritual Mindset & Manifesting Teacher.Creator & Mastermind behind The Awakened State. A place of Empowerment to Heal & Manifest a Soul-Aligned Life. She Supports people on energy work, manifestation, mind body healing, kundalini awakening, subconscious reprogramming & moving into a place of emotional empowerment to own your power. She teaches others to Dismantle Resistance, Live Beyond Fear and Start waking up their Manifesting Potential through mind-body healing. Her Mission is to Help Others Empower their Life & guide them towards their own Personal Alignment. When she’s not blogging, she’s Netflixing with her man, loves baking from pinterest recipes or playing with her two little ones.