Delphi Collected Works of René Descartes
Page 49
ARTICLE CXIX.
Of Languor.
Languor is a tendency to relax and be motionless, and this is experienced in all the members; like tremors, it proceeds from the fact that sufficient animal spirits do not go into the nerves, but in a different way. For the cause of tremors is that there are not sufficient spirits in the brain in order to carry out the determinations of the gland when it drives them towards some muscle, while langour proceeds from the fact that the gland does not determine them to go towards any particular muscle more than to others.
ARTICLE CXX.
How it is caused by love and by desire.
And the passion which most usually causes this effect is love joined to the desire for a thing whose acquisition is not imagined to be at the time possible; for love so occupies the soul in considering the object loved that it employs all the spirits which are in the brain in representing to it its image, and it checks all the movements of the glands which do not contribute to this result. And we must notice regarding desire that the property which I have attributed to it of rendering the body the more mobile, only belongs to it when we imagine the object desired to be such that we can from this time forth do something which serves towards its acquisition. For if we imagine, on the other hand, that it is impossible at this time to do anything which is useful for that end, all the agitation of desire remains in the brain, without in any way passing into the nerves; and, being entirely employed in there strengthening the idea of the desired object, it leaves the rest of the body languid.
ARTICLE CXXI.
That it may also be caused by other passions.
It is true that hatred, sadness, and even joy, may also cause some languor when they are very violent, because they occupy the soul entirely in considering their object, principally when the desire of a thing to whose acquisition we cannot contribute anything at the present time is united to it. But because we pause much longer over the consideration of the objects to which we ally ourselves by our own free-will than those which we dissociate therefrom, and than any others, and as languor does not rest on a sudden surprise but requires some time in its formation, it is to be met with much more in love than in all the other passions.
ARTICLE CXXII.
Of Swooning.
A swoon is not far removed from death, for death results when the fire which is in our heart is extinguished altogether, and we only fall into a faint when it is stifled in such a way that there still remain some traces of heat which may afterwards rekindle it. There are, however, several indispositions of the body which cause us thus to fall into a faint, but amongst the passions it is only extreme joy which we observe as having the power to do so. And the manner in which I believe it to bring about this effect is that, by opening the orifices of the heart to an unusual extent, the blood of the veins enters so suddenly, and in so large a quantity, that it cannot be rarefied there by the heat promptly enough to raise the little membranes which close the entrances of these veins, and thus it quenches the fire which it usually maintains when it only enters the heart in moderation.
ARTICLE CXXIII.
Why grief does not cause us to swoon.
It would seem that a great grief falling on us suddenly ought so to close the orifices of the heart as to be able also to extinguish its fire, but nevertheless we do not observe that to happen, or if it does happen it is very rarely the case. From this I argue that the reason is that there can scarcely be so little blood in the heart as to be insufficient to maintain heat when its orifices are almost closed.
ARTICLE CXXIV.
Of Laughter.
Laughter consists in the fact that the blood, which proceeds from the right orifice in the heart by the arterial vein, inflating the lungs suddenly and repeatedly, causes the air which they contain to be constrained to pass out from them with an impetus by the windpipe, where it forms an inarticulate and explosive utterance; and the lungs in expanding equally with the air as it rushes out, set in motion all the muscles of the diaphragm from the chest to the neck, by which means they cause motion in the facial muscles, which have a certain connection with them. And it is just this action of the face with this inarticulate and explosive voice that we call laughter.
R. H.
ARTICLE CXXV.
Why it does not accompany the greatest joys.
But although it seems as though laughter were one of the principal signs of joy, nevertheless joy cannot cause it except when it is moderate and has some wonder or hate mingled with it. For we find by experience that when we are extraordinarily joyous the subject of this joy never causes us to burst into laughter, and we cannot even be so easily induced to do so by some other cause as when we are sad. And the reason of this is that in great joys the lung is always so full of blood that it cannot be further inflated by repeated gushes.
ARTICLE CXXVI.
What are its principal causes.
And I can only observe two causes which make the lung thus inflate suddenly. The first is the surprise of admiration or wonder, which, being united to joy, may open the orifices of the heart so quickly that a great abundance of blood suddenly entering on its right side by the vena cava, rarefies there, and, passing from thence by the arterial vein, inflates the lung. The other is the admixture of some liquor which increases the rarefaction of the blood, and I can find nothing which could do that but the most liquid part of that which proceeds from the spleen, which part of the blood being driven to the heart by some slight emotion of hatred, assisted by the surprise of wonder, and mingling itself there with the blood which proceeds from the other parts of the body which joy causes to enter there in abundance, may cause this blood to dilate there much more than usual. We observe the same thing in many other liquids which, when on the fire, suddenly dilate when we throw a little vinegar into the vessel where they are; for the most liquid portion of the blood which comes from the spleen is in nature similar to vinegar. Experience also causes us to see that in all the possible occurrences which can produce this explosive laughter which proceeds from the lung, there is always some little element of hatred, or at least of wonder. And those whose spleen is not in a very healthy condition are subject to being not alone more sad, but also at intervals more gay and more disposed to laughter than the others, inasmuch as the spleen sends two sorts of blood to the heart, the one thick and coarse, which causes sadness, the other very fluid and subtle, which causes joy. And often, after having laughed much, we feel ourselves naturally inclined to sadness because the more fluid portion of the blood of the spleen being exhausted, the other, more coarse, follows it towards the heart.
ARTICLE CXXVII.
Its cause in indignation.
As to the laughter which sometimes accompanies indignation, it is usually artificial and feigned; but when it is natural, it appears to proceed from the joy that we have in observing the fact that we cannot be hurt by the evil at which we are indignant, and, along with that, from the fact that we find ourselves surprised by the novelty or by the unexpected encountering of this evil. In this way joy, hatred and wonder contribute to it. At the same time I would fain believe that it may also be produced without any joy, by the movement of aversion alone, which sends blood from the spleen to the heart, where it is rarefied and driven from thence to the lung; and this it easily inflates when it finds it almost empty. And speaking generally, all that can suddenly inflate the lung in this way causes the outward action laughter, excepting when sadness changes it into that of groans, and the cries which accompany tears. In reference to which Vives writes of himself regarding a time when he had been long without eating, that the first pieces of food which he placed in his mouth caused him to laugh; and this might proceed from the fact that his lung, emptied of blood by lack of nourishment, was promptly inflated by the first juice which passed from his stomach to his heart, and which the mere imagination of eating could conduct there, even before the arrival of the food he was eating.
ARTICLE CXXVIII.
Of the origin of Tears.
ARTICLE CXXIX.
Of the manner in which vapours change into water.
Now, as I have said in the Meteors, in explaining the manner in which the vapours of the air are converted into rain, that this proceeds from the fact that they are less agitated or more abundant than usual, so I believe that when those that issue from the body are much less agitated than usual, although they are not so abundant, they do not any the less convert themselves into water, which causes the cold sweats which sometimes come from weakness when we are ill. And I believe that when they are much more abundant, provided that they are not also more agitated, they also convert themselves into water, which is the cause of the sweat which comes when we perform a certain amount of exercise. But then the eyes do not perspire, because during the exercise of the body, since the greater part of the animal spirits go into the muscles which serve to move it, less goes by the optic nerve to the eyes. And it is one and the same matter which forms blood when found in the veins or arteries, and spirits, when it is in the brain, nerves, or muscles, and vapours when it issues forth in the form of air, and finally sweat or tears when it condenses into water on the surface of the body or the eyes.
ARTICLE CXXX.
How that which causes pain in the eye excites it to tears.
And I can only observe two causes which make the vapours which issue from the eyes change into tears. The first is when the figure of the pores by which they pass is changed by some accident or other; for that, retarding the movement of these vapours and changing their order, may cause them to be converted into water. Thus the falling into the eyes of the tiniest mite suffices to draw some tears from them, because in exciting pain in them it changes the disposition of their pores in such a manner that when some become more contracted, the small portion of the vapours pass by less quickly; and instead of their issuing forth as before at equal distances the one from the other, and thus remaining separate, they come into contact with one another, because the order of these pores is put out, and by this means they join one another and thus become converted into tears.
ARTICLE CXXXI.
How we weep owing to sadness.
The other cause is sadness followed by love or joy, or generally speaking by some cause which makes the heart to drive forth much blood through the arteries. Sadness is requisite in weeping, because by chilling all the blood, it contracts the pores of the eyes; but since in proportion as it contracts them, it also diminishes the quantity of the vapours which they should allow to pass, that does not suffice to produce tears if the quantity of these vapours is not at the same time increased by some other cause. And there is nothing which increases it more than the blood which is sent to the heart in the passion of love; we see likewise that those who are sad do not continually shed tears, but only at intervals, when they make some new reflection on the objects of their affection.
ARTICLE CXXXII.
Of the groans which accompany tears.
And then the lungs are also sometimes inflated suddenly by the abundance of the blood which enters them, and which drives out from them the air which they contained, which, issuing by the windpipe, begets the groans and cries which usually accompany tears. And these cries are as a rule shriller than those which accompany laughter, although they are produced almost in the same way. The reason of this is that the nerves which serve to enlarge or contract the organs of the voice in order to make it louder or sharper, being united to those which open the orifices of the heart in joy, and contract them in sadness, cause these organs to enlarge or contract at the same time.
ARTICLE CXXXIII.
Why children and old people easily weep.
Children and old people are more disposed to weep than those of middle age, but for different reasons. Old people often weep from affection and joy; for these two passions united together send much blood to the heart and hence much vapour to the eyes; and the agitation of these vapours is so much retarded by the coldness of their bodily disposition, that they easily convert themselves into tears, even although no sadness has preceded. And if some old people also weep very easily from vexation, it is not so much the temperament of their body as that of their mind that disposes them to do so; and it only happens to those who are so feeble that they allow themselves to be entirely overcome by small causes of sorrow, fear or pity. The same occurs with children who never cry with joy, but much more frequently owing to sadness, even when it is not accompanied with love; for they have always enough blood to produce much vapour, the movement of which, being retarded by sadness, is converted into tears.
ARTICLE CXXXIV.
Why some children become pale instead of crying.
At the same time there are some who become pale instead of weeping, when they are angry, which may demonstrate in them an extraordinary judgment and courage, that is to say, when it proceeds from their considering the greatness of the evil and preparing themselves for a stout resistance, in the same way as do older people. But more usually it is a mark of an evil disposition, at least when it proceeds from a tendency towards hatred or fear, for these are passions which diminish the material of tears. And, on the contrary, we see that those who weep very easily are inclined to love and pity.
ARTICLE CXXXV.
Of Sighs.
The cause of sighing is very different from that of tears, even though like the latter it presupposes sadness. For, our tendency to weep when the lungs are full of blood is replaced by a tendency to sigh when they are almost empty, and when some imagination of hope or joy opens the orifices of the venous artery which sadness had contracted; because then the small amount of blood which remains in the lungs, suddenly falling into the left side of the heart by this venous artery and being driven thence by the desire of arriving at this joy, which agitates all the muscles of the diaphragm and chest at the same time, the air is promptly driven through the mouth into the lungs, in order there to fill the place left by this blood; and that is what we call sighing.
ARTICLE CXXXVI.
From whence proceed the effects of the passions which are peculiar to certain men.
For the rest, in order in a few words to supply all that can be added regarding the diverse effects or diverse causes of the passions, I shall content myself with repeating the principle on which all that I have written about them rests, i.e. that there is a connection between our soul and our body of such a nature that when we have once connected some corporeal action with some thought, the one of the two does not present itself to us afterwards without the other presenting itself also; and that it is not always the same actions which are connected with the same thoughts. For that suffices to provide a reason for the whole of that which each of us can observe as peculiar to himself or to others regarding this matter, and which has not been here explained. And, for example, it is easy to reflect that the strange aversions of certain people which prevent their being able to endure the scent of roses or the presence of a cat, or things of that sort, only proceed from the fact that at the beginning of their lives they have suffered much unpleasantness through some such objects, or else have shared in the feelings of their mother who has so suffered before they were born. For it is certain that there is a relation between all the movements of the mother and those of the child in her womb, inasmuch as what is harmful to the one is hurtful to the other. And the scent o
f roses may have caused a severe headache to a child while still in the cradle, or a cat may have terrified him without anyone having been aware of it, or of any memory remaining of it afterwards, although the idea of aversion which he then had for these loses or for this cat remain imprinted on his brain to the end of his life.
ARTICLE CXXXVII.
Of the function of the five passions here explained inasfar as they relate to the body.
After having given definitions of love, of hatred, of desire, of joy, and of sadness, and having treated of all the corporeal movements, which cause or accompany them, we only have here to consider their function. And regarding this it must be observed that, in accordance with the institutions of nature they all relate to body, and are only bestowed on the soul in so far as it is united to body, In this way their natural use is to incite the soul to consent and contribute to the actions which may serve to maintain the body, or to render it in some manner more perfect. And from this point of view sadness and joy are the two foremost that are employed. For those things that are hurtful to the body are immediately made known to the soul only by the feeling of pain which it experiences, and which first of all produces in it the passion of sadness, then the hatred of what causes this pain, and, in the third place, the desire to rid oneself of it. Similarly, likewise, the soul is only immediately notified of things useful to the body by some sort of pleasant stimulation which causes joy within it, then causes the love of that which is believed to be its cause to arise, and finally brings about the desire to acquire what is capable of causing a continuance of that joy, or else causes us to rejoice again in the future after a similar sensation. And this shows us that they are all five very useful relatively to the body, and even that sadness in some way ranks higher and is more essential than joy, and hatred than love, because it is of more importance to repel the things which injure and may destroy, than to acquire those which add some perfection without which we may subsist.