It is clearly established, however, that the soul does not perceive in so far as it is in each member of the body, but only in so far as it is in the brain, where the nerves by their movements convey to it the diverse actions of the external objects that touch the parts of the body in which they are inserted. For, in the first place, there are various maladies, which, though they affect the brain alone, yet bring disorder upon, or deprive us altogether of the use of, our senses, just as sleep, which affects the brain only, and yet takes from us daily during a great part of our time the faculty of perception, which afterwards in our waking state is restored to us. The second proof is, that though there be no disease in the brain, [or in the members in which the organs of the external senses are], it is nevertheless sufficient to take away sensation from the part of the body where the nerves terminate, if only the movement of one of the nerves that extend from the brain to these members be obstructed in any part of the distance that is between the two. And the last proof is, that we sometimes feel pain as if in certain of our members, the cause of which, however, is not in these members where it is felt, but somewhere nearer the brain, through which the nerves pass that give to the mind the sensation of it. I could establish this fact by innumerable experiments; I will here, however, merely refer to one of them. A girl suffering from a bad ulcer in the hand, had her eyes bandaged whenever the surgeon came to visit her, not being able to bear the sight of the dressing of the sore; and, the gangrene having spread, after the expiry of a few days the arm was amputated from the elbow [without the girl’s knowledge]; linen cloths tied one above the other were substituted in place of the part amputated, so that she remained for some time without knowing that the operation had been performed, and meanwhile she complained of feeling various pains, sometimes in one finger of the hand that was cut off, and sometimes in another. The only explanation of this is, that the nerves which before stretched downwards from the brain to the hand, and then terminated in the arm close to the elbow, were there moved in the same way as they required to be moved before in the hand for the purpose of impressing on the mind residing in the brain the sensation of pain in this or that finger. [And this clearly shows that the pain of the hand is not felt by the mind in so far as it is in the hand, but in so far as it is in the brain.]
Philosophical Works
Chapter List-
Philosophical Works
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Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences
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Prefatory Note by the Author
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Discourse on the Method
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PartI
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PartII
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PartIII
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PartIV
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PartV
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PartVI
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Meditations on the First Philosophy
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Chapter_13
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Preface to the Reader
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Synopsis of the Six Following Meditations
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Meditations on the First Philosophy
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MeditationI
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MeditationII
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MeditationIII
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MeditationIV
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MeditationV
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MeditationVI
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Selections from thePrinciples of Philosophy
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Letter of the Author to the French Translator of thePrinciples of PhilosophyServing for a Preface
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Chapter_25
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Selections from thePrinciples of Philosophy
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PartI
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Chapter_28
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Chapter_29
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Chapter_30
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Chapter_31
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Chapter_32
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Chapter_33
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Chapter_34
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Chapter_35
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Chapter_36
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Chapter_37
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Chapter_38
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Chapter_39
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Chapter_40
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Chapter_41
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Chapter_42
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Chapter_43
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Chapter_44
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Chapter_45
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Chapter_46
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Chapter_47
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Chapter_48
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Chapter_49
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Chapter_50
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Chapter_51
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Chapter_52
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Chapter_53
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Chapter_54
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Chapter_55
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Chapter_56
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Chapter_57
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Chapter_58
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Chapter_59
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Chapter_60
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Chapter_61
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Chapter_62
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Chapter_63
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Chapter_64
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Chapter_65
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Chapter_66
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Chapter_67
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Chapter_68
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Chapter_69
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Chapter_70
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Chapter_71
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Chapter_72
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Chapter_73
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Chapter_74
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Chapter_75
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Chapter_76
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Chapter_77
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Chapter_78
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Chapter_79
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Chapter_80
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Chapter_81
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Chapter_82
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Chapter_83
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Chapter_84
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Chapter_85
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Chapter_86
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Chapter_87
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Chapter_88
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Chapter_89
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Chapter_90
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Chapter_91
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Chapter_92
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Chapter_93
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Chapter_94
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Chapter_95
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Chapter_96
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Chapter_97
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Chapter_98
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Chapter_99
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Chapter_100
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Chapter_101
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Chapter_102
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Chapter_103
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PartII
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Chapter_105
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Chapter_106
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Chapter_107
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Chapter_108
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Chapter_109
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Chapter_110
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Chapter_111
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Chapter_112
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Chapter_113
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Chapter_114
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Chapter_115
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Chapter_116
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Chapter_117
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Chapter_118
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Chapter_119
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Chapter_120
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Chapter_121
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Chapter_122
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Chapter_123
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Chapter_124
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Chapter_125
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Chapter_126
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Chapter_127
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Chapter_128
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Chapter_129
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PartIII
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Chapter_131
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Chapter_132
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Chapter_133
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PartIV
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Chapter_135
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Chapter_136
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Chapter_137
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Chapter_138
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Chapter_139
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Chapter_140
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Chapter_141
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Chapter_142
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Chapter_143
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Chapter_144
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Chapter_145
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Chapter_146
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Chapter_147
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Chapter_148
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Chapter_149
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Chapter_150
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Chapter_151
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Chapter_152
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Chapter_153
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Chapter_154
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Chapter_155
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Endnotes