DESCARTES e seu projeto de um cérebro fantasioso

O interesse pela anatomia data desde a mais remota antiguidade. Esse conhecimento foi adquirido por meio de dissecções em animais e cadáveres humanos, por muitos pesquisadores. A anatomia macroscópica de variadas estruturas do cérebro foi identificada com o passar dos séculos, e a substância sólida predominante foi vista como amorfa e destituída de qualquer função específica até o período do Renascimento. René Descartes, um personagem com uma mente brilhante e criativa, concebeu o cérebro, sua estrutura e função, de um modo distinto ao que era conhecido no seu tempo. Ele valorizou e deu à substância sólida, pela primeira vez, uma estrutura teórica formada por elementos minúsculos, relacionada a uma função presuntiva, baseada na presença da glândula pineal e dos espíritos animais, subjacentes às atividades cognitiva, sensorial e motora. Essa vista estrutural foi, de certa maneira, endossada pelos achados microscópicos de Marcello Malpighi, o que começou a modificar a compreensão do sistema nervoso.

Palavras-chave:
Descartes; cérebro; glândula pineal; espíritos animais; microscopia

Autoria

Eliasz Engelhardt

Institute of Neurology Deolindo Couto, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazilRio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilInstitute of Neurology Deolindo Couto, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

Institute of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazilRio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilInstitute of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4168-1992

Eliasz Engelhardt. Av. N. S. Copacabana, 749/708 - Copacabana - 22050-002 Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil. E-mail: eliasz@centroin.net.br

Disclosure: The author reports no conflicts of interest.

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Figuras | Tabelas

Figuras (3)
Tabelas (1)

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Figure 1.
Portrait of René Descartes by Frans Hals.⁶6. Haldane ES. Descartes his Life and Times. London: John Murray; 1905 [accessed on Jul 12, 2020]. Available at: Available at: https://ia600200.us.archive.org/17/items/descarteshislife00haldiala/descarteshislife00haldiala.pdf ]
https://ia600200.us.archive.org/17/items...

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Figure 2.
Figures of the brain illustrating Descartes’ description.¹⁶16. Descartes R. L’homme et un traitté de la formation du foetus: remarques de Louis de La Forge. Paris: Charles Angot; 1664 [accessed on Jan 05, 2021]. Available at: Available at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k574850
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5... ^,¹⁷17. Descartes R. Tractatus de Homine et de Formatione Foetus. Amsterdami: Danielem Elsevirium; 1677 [accessed on Nov 27, 2020]. Available at: Available at: https://ia800407.us.archive.org/6/items/bub_gb_pmG0igLZBFAC/bub_gb_pmG0igLZBFAC.pdf
https://ia800407.us.archive.org/6/items/... (A) Drawing featuring a tridimensional brain, based probably on a sheep brain (provided by van Gutschoven [G]). (B) Diagrammatic schema featuring a horizontal view of the brain (provided by La Forge [F]).

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Figure 3.
Descartes design for an instrument to amplify and visualize small objects. He described (La Dioptrique [9^th Discourse - Des Lunettes]) a lunette (lunete), an unilenticular instrument, where solar rays (I) are focused on the object (E) supported by a small arm (G), by a concave mirror (D) with a central transparent area behind which is placed the crystal (verre) [lens] (A), embedded in a supporting structure (C). The rays are first reflected to the object, and then, from the object to the eye (H).¹⁹19. Descartes R. Discours de la Méthode... Plus La Dioptrique, les Météores et la Géométrie. Leyden: Ian Maire; 1637. [accessed on Dec 27, 2020]. Available at: Available at: https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de//de/fs1/object/display/bsb10860336_00005.html
https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de//d...

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Box 1.
The localization of the soul before Descartes.

Figure 1. Portrait of René Descartes by Frans Hals.⁶6. Haldane ES. Descartes his Life and Times. London: John Murray; 1905 [accessed on Jul 12, 2020]. Available at: Available at: https://ia600200.us.archive.org/17/items/descarteshislife00haldiala/descarteshislife00haldiala.pdf ]
https://ia600200.us.archive.org/17/items...

Figure 2. Figures of the brain illustrating Descartes’ description.¹⁶16. Descartes R. L’homme et un traitté de la formation du foetus: remarques de Louis de La Forge. Paris: Charles Angot; 1664 [accessed on Jan 05, 2021]. Available at: Available at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k574850
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5... ^,¹⁷17. Descartes R. Tractatus de Homine et de Formatione Foetus. Amsterdami: Danielem Elsevirium; 1677 [accessed on Nov 27, 2020]. Available at: Available at: https://ia800407.us.archive.org/6/items/bub_gb_pmG0igLZBFAC/bub_gb_pmG0igLZBFAC.pdf
https://ia800407.us.archive.org/6/items/... (A) Drawing featuring a tridimensional brain, based probably on a sheep brain (provided by van Gutschoven [G]). (B) Diagrammatic schema featuring a horizontal view of the brain (provided by La Forge [F]).

H: pineal gland; AA: inner solid part; BB: outer solid part; EE: cavities; D: stem-like structure; aa: small tubules; ducts for elimination of superfluous spirits: I+K=through the nose, L=through the palate.

Figure 3. Descartes design for an instrument to amplify and visualize small objects. He described (La Dioptrique [9^th Discourse - Des Lunettes]) a lunette (lunete), an unilenticular instrument, where solar rays (I) are focused on the object (E) supported by a small arm (G), by a concave mirror (D) with a central transparent area behind which is placed the crystal (verre) [lens] (A), embedded in a supporting structure (C). The rays are first reflected to the object, and then, from the object to the eye (H).¹⁹19. Descartes R. Discours de la Méthode... Plus La Dioptrique, les Météores et la Géométrie. Leyden: Ian Maire; 1637. [accessed on Dec 27, 2020]. Available at: Available at: https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de//de/fs1/object/display/bsb10860336_00005.html
https://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de//d...

Box 1. The localization of the soul before Descartes.

The ancient scholars felt a necessity to localize the soul in a specific organ or anatomic structure. Thus, in Egypt (3^rd millennium BC) the soul was seen as composed of five parts, being the most important placed in the heart, the seat and source of thoughts, feelings, and will.²⁵25. Santoro G, Wood MD, Merlo L, Anastasi GP, Tomasello F, Germanò A. The anatomic location of the soul from the heart, through the brain, to the whole body, and beyond: a journey through Western history, science, and philosophy. Neurosurgery. 2009;65(4):633-43;discussion 643. https://doi.org/10.1227/01.NEU.0000349750.22332.6A
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1227/... Much later, in Greece, philosophers, such as Socrates (5^th-4^th century BC), Platon (5^th-4^th century BC), and Aristoteles (4^th century BC) discussed the subject. Platon, based on Socrates’ ideas, considered a tripartite soul, differentially located, the logos (reason) in the brain, thymos (spiritedness) in the thorax, and eros (appetitive) in the stomach. Aristoteles regarded the soul linked to the body, and also constituted by three parts, a vegetative, a sensitive, and an intellectual, all related to the heart. Further, Galenus of Pergamon (3^rd-2^nd century BC) adopted Platon’s idea of a tripartite soul, and located the rational soul in the brain, the spirited in the heart, and the appetitive in the liver.²⁵25. Santoro G, Wood MD, Merlo L, Anastasi GP, Tomasello F, Germanò A. The anatomic location of the soul from the heart, through the brain, to the whole body, and beyond: a journey through Western history, science, and philosophy. Neurosurgery. 2009;65(4):633-43;discussion 643. https://doi.org/10.1227/01.NEU.0000349750.22332.6A
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1227/... ^,²⁶26. Hankinson R. Galen's Anatomy of the Soul. Phronesis. 1991;36(2):197-233. https://doi.org/10.1163/156852891321052787
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/... ^,²⁷27. Lorenz H. Ancient Theories of Soul. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Zalta: EN ed; 2009 [accessed on Feb 08, 2021]. Available at: Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/ancient-soul/
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2... The Hellenistic theories of Epicurus and the Stoics that appeared, considered that the soul was corporeal.²⁷27. Lorenz H. Ancient Theories of Soul. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Zalta: EN ed; 2009 [accessed on Feb 08, 2021]. Available at: Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/ancient-soul/
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2... Nemesius of Emesa (4^th century AD), in the beginning of the Middle Ages, founded on Herophilus and Erasistratus, and also on Galenus’ ideas, believed that the soul was designed for unification with the body, and posited his ‘ventricular doctrine’, where the brain ventricles were occupied by the faculties of the soul. This view was held, with some variations, over the entire Middle Ages and the Renaissance.⁴4. Engelhardt E. Cerebral localization of the mind and higher functions. The beginnings. Dement Neuropsychol. 2018;12(3):321-5. https://doi.org/doi: 10.1590/1980-57642018dn12-030014
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/doi: 10.... ^,²⁸28. Faruque MU. The internal senses in Nemesius, Plotinus and Galen: The beginning of an idea. J Anc Philos. 2016;10(2):119-39. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-9471.v10i2p119-139.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.11606... At this time appeared Descartes with his ‘mind-body dualism’, and believed that the soul has its principal localization in the brain, and specifically the pineal gland.¹⁶16. Descartes R. L’homme et un traitté de la formation du foetus: remarques de Louis de La Forge. Paris: Charles Angot; 1664 [accessed on Jan 05, 2021]. Available at: Available at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k574850
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5...

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[1] Eliasz Engelhardt. Av. N. S. Copacabana, 749/708 - Copacabana - 22050-002 Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil. E-mail: eliasz@centroin.net.br