The fountains were controlled by a fountaineer(喷泉制造者），and here Descartes found an analogy for the mind.He explained:"There is a reasoning soul in this machine;it has its principal site in the brain,where ti is like the fountaineer who must be at the rservoir,whither(无论到哪里）all the pipes of the machine are extended,when he wishes to start,stop,or in some way alter their actions."
While philosophers still argue as to whether the mind and brain are somehow different entities,most psychologists equate the mind with the workings of the brain.However ,in practical terms,the distinction between mental and physical health is a complex one:the two being closely linked when mental stress is said to cause physical illness, or when chemical imbalances affect the brain.
Mind/body dualism
Before
4th century BCE Greek philosopher Plato claims that the body is from the material world,but the soul,or mind,is from the immortal world of ideas.
4th century BCE Greek philosopher Plato claims that the body is from the material world, but the soul, or ind, is from the immortal world of ideas.
4th century BCE Greek philosopher Aristotle says that the soul and body are inseparable:the soul is the actuality of the body.
After
1710 In a Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley claims that the body is merely the perception of the mind.
1904 In Does Consciousness Exist?
William James asserts that consciousnerss is not a separate entity but a function of particular experiences.
Rene Descartes
Rene Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine(now name Descartes),France. He contracted tuberculosis from his mother who died a few days after he was born,and remained weak for the rest of his life.From the age of eight,he was eduacted at the Jesuit college of La Fleche,Anjou,where he began the habit of spending each morning in bed,due to his poot health,doing "systematic meditation"-about philosophy,science,and mathematics.From 1612 to 1628,he contemplated,travelled,and wrote. In 1649,he was invited to teach QUeen Christina of sweden,but her early morning demands on his time,combined with a harsh climate,worsened his health;he died on 11 February 1650.
officially,the cause of death was pneumonia(肺炎),but some historians believe that he was poisoned to stop the Protestant Christina converting to Catholicism.
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