The Psychology Book (8 page)

contracted tuberculosis from

body. The mind, or soul, residing

An analogy for the mind

his mother, who died a few

in the pineal gland, located deep

Taking his inspiration from the

days after he was born, and

within the brain, was thought to

French formal gardens of Versailles,

remained weak his entire life.

sometimes become aware of the

with their hydraulic systems that

From the age of eight, he was

moving spirits, which then caused

supply water to the gardens and

educated at the Jesuit college

conscious sensation. In this way,

their elaborate fountains, Descartes

of La Flèche, Anjou, where he

the body could affect the mind.

describes the spirits of the body

began the habit of spending

Likewise, the mind could affect

operating the nerves and muscles

each morning in bed, due

the body by causing an outflow of

like the force of water, and “by this

to his poor health, doing

animal spirits to a particular region

means to cause motion in all the

“systematic meditation”—

of the body, initiating action.

parts.” The fountains were controlled

about philosophy, science,

by a fountaineer, and here Descartes

and mathematics. From 1612

found an analogy for the mind. He

to 1628, he contemplated,

traveled, and wrote. In 1649,

explained: “There is a reasoning

he was invited to teach Queen

soul in this machine; it has its

Christina of Sweden, but her

principal site in the brain, where it

early-morning demands on his

is like the fountaineer who must be

time, combined with a harsh

at the reservoir, whither all the

climate, worsened his health;

pipes of the machine are extended,

he died on February 11, 1650.

when he wishes to start, stop, or in

Officially, the cause of death

some way alter their actions.”

was pneumonia, but some

While philosophers still argue as

historians believe that he

to whether the mind and brain are

was poisoned to stop

somehow different entities, most

the Protestant Christina

psychologists equate the mind

converting to Catholicism.

with the workings of the brain.

However, in practical terms, the

Key works

distinction between mental and

1637
Discourse on the Method

physical health is a complex one:

Descartes illustrated the pineal

1662
De Homine
(written 1633)

the two being closely linked when

gland
, a single organ in the brain

1647
The Description of the

mental stress is said to cause

ideally placed to unite the sights and

Human Body

sounds of the two eyes and the two

physical illness, or when chemical

1649
The Passions of the Soul

ears into one impression.

imbalances affect the brain. ■

22

D ABOBE FRMEZ

ARIA (1756–181 !

9)

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

T
he practice of inducing state, but its use as a healing

trance states to promote

therapy was largely abandoned until

healing is not new. Several

the German doctor Franz Mesmer

ancient cultures, including those of

reintroduced it in the 18th century.

Hypnosis

Egypt and Greece, saw nothing

Mesmer’s treatment involved

BEFORE

strange about taking their sick to

manipulating the body’s natural, or

“sleep temples” so they could be

“animal,” magnetism, through the

1027
Persian philosopher and

cured, while in a sleeplike state, by

use of magnets and suggestion.

physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina)

suggestions from specially trained

After being “mesmerized,” or

writes about trances in
The

priests. In 1027, the Persian

“magnetized,” some people suffered

Book of Healing.

physician Avicenna documented

a convulsion, after which they

1779
German physician Franz

the characteristics of the trance

claimed to feel better.

Mesmer publishes
A Memoir

on the Discovery of Animal

Magnetism
.

AFTER

1843
Scottish surgeon James

…combines with the

Braid coins the term “neuro-

A gentle request or

highly concentrated

commanding order…

mind
of a subject…

hypnotism” in
Neurypnology
.

1880S
French psychologist

Emile Coué discovers the

placebo effect and publishes

Self-Mastery Through

Conscious Autosuggestion.

1880S
Sigmund Freud

investigates hypnosis and its

In this state

the subject becomes

apparent power to control

…to induce a state of

more susceptible

“lucid sleep”

unconscious symptoms.

to
the power of

(hypnotic trance).

suggestion.

PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS 23

See also:
Jean-Martin Charcot 30 ■ Sigmund Freud 92–99 ■ Carl Jung 102–07 ■ Milton Erickson 336

A few years later, Abbé Faria, a

Portugese-Goan monk, studied

Mesmer’s work and concluded that

it was “entirely absurd” to think

that magnets were a vital part of the

process. The truth was even more

Nothing comes from the

extraordinary: the power to fall into

magnetizer; everything comes

trance or “lucid sleep” lay entirely

from the subject and takes

with the individuals concerned.

place in his imagination.

No special forces were necessary,

Abbé Faria

because the phenomena relied only

upon the power of suggestion.

Lucid sleep

Faria saw his role as a “concentrator,”

helping his subject get into the right

Franz Mesmer induced trance

state of mind. In
On The Cause

through the application of magnets,

of Lucid Sleep
, he describes his

often to the stomach. These were said

method: “After selecting subjects

to bring the body’s “animal” magnetism

with the right aptitude, I ask them

back into a harmonious state.

to relax in a chair, shut their eyes,

concentrate their attention, and

surgeon James Braid, from the

Jean-Martin Charcot began to use

think about sleep. As they quietly

Greek
hypnos
, meaning “sleep”

hypnotism systematically in the

await further instructions,

and
osis
meaning “condition.” Braid

treatment of traumatic hysteria.

I gently or commandingly say:

concluded that hypnosis is not a

This brought hypnosis to the

‘
Dormez
!’ (Sleep!) and they fall

type of sleep but a concentration

attention of Josef Breuer and

into lucid sleep”.

on a single idea, resulting in

Sigmund Freud, who were to

It was from Faria’s lucid sleep

heightened suggestibility. After his

question the drive behind the

that the term “hypnosis” was

death, interest in hypnosis largely

hypnotic self, and discover the

coined in 1843 by the Scottish

waned until the French neurologist

power of the unconscious. ■

Abbé Faria

Born in Portuguese Goa, José

could so quickly alter his state

Custódio de Faria was the son of

of mind. He moved to France,

a wealthy heiress, but his parents

where he played a prominent

separated when he was 15.

part in the French Revolution

Armed with introductions to the

and refined his techniques of

Portuguese court, Faria and his

self-suggestion while imprisoned.

father traveled to Portugal where

Faria became a professor of

both trained as priests. On one

philosophy, but his theater

occasion, the young Faria was

shows demonstrating “lucid

asked by the queen to preach in

sleep” undercut his reputation;

her private chapel. During the

when he died of a stroke in 1819

sermon, he panicked, but his

he was buried in an unmarked

father whispered, “They are all

grave in Montmartre, Paris.

men of straw—cut the straw!”

Faria immediately lost his fear and

Key work

preached fluently; he later

wondered how a simple phrase

1819
On the Cause of Lucid Sleep

24

CONCEPTS BECOME

FORCES WHEN THEY

RESIST ONE ANOTHER

JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERBART (1776–1841)

IN CONTEXT

Experiences and sensations

APPROACH

combine to form
ideas
.

Structuralism

BEFORE

1704
German philosopher

Gottfried Leibniz discusses

Dissimilar ideas resist

petites perceptions
(perceptions

Similar ideas can

one another and become

coexist or combine
.

without consciousness) in his

forces in conflict.

New Essays on Human

Understanding.

1869
German philosopher

One idea
is forced

Eduard von Hartmann

to become
favored

publishes his widely read

over another.

Philosophy of the Unconscious.

AFTER

1895
Sigmund Freud and

The
unfavored idea
leaves

Josef Breuer publish
Studies

The favored idea
stays

consciousness; it becomes

on Hysteria
, introducing

in consciousness
.

an unconscious idea
.

psychoanalysis and its

theories of the unconscious.

1912
Carl Jung writes
The

Psychology of the Unconscious
,

suggesting that all people have

a culturally specific collective

J
ohann Herbart was a German the mind must use some kind of