Tertium Organum

intellect.
Or putting it in a slightly different way, 
the brain is a mirror, 
reflecting the mind in our three-dimensional section of the world.
This means 
that in our three-dimensional section of the world 
not the whole of mind is 
seen 
(we do not know its real dimensions) but only as much of it as is 
reflected in the brain. It is clear that if the mirror is broken, the reflection 
must also be shattered, or, if the mirror is damaged it will give a distorted 
reflection. But there are no grounds for supposing that when the mirror breaks 
the object it reflects also becomes broken, i.e. in this case, mind. 
The mind cannot suffer from disorders of the brain, but its 
manifestations 
can suffer greatly and can even disappear altogether from the field of our 
observation. It is clear, therefore, that disorders in the activity of the brain 
lead to a weakening or a distortion, or even a complete disappearance of 
mental faculties, manifesting in our sphere.
The idea of comparing three-dimensional and four-dimensional bodies 
enables us to assert that not all activity of the mind passes through the brain, 
but only a part of it.* 
* In all that has been said above it would be more correct to substitute for the word 
brain
the word 
body, 
organism New trends of scientific psychology bring us precisely 
to the understanding of the psychological value of different functions which have been 
unknown till recent tunes and are even now but little investigated The mind is 
connected not only with the brain but with the whole body, with all the organs, with all 
the tissues The theory of hormones, the study of the activity of the glands and many 
other things round which science is now revolving, already show that the brain is by no 
means the sole conductor of the menial activity of man 

---

Each of us is in reality an abiding psychical entity far more extensive than he knows ­
an individuality which can never express itself completely through any corporeal 
manifestation. The Self manifests through the organism; but there is always some part 
of the Self unmanifested.* 
The 'positivist' remains dissatisfied. He will say: prove to me that thought can take 
place without the brain, then I will believe. 
I shall answer him by the question: 
What
in this case will constitute proof? 
There are no proofs and there cannot be any. The existence of mind 
without the brain 
(without the body), if it is possible, is for us a fact which cannot be 
proved
like a 
physical fact. 
And if my opponent is sincere in his reasoning, he will become convinced that there 
cannot be no proofs -
because he himself has no means a/ascertaining the existence of 
mind acting independently of the brain. 
Indeed, let us suppose that the thought of a 
dead man 
(i.e. of a man whose brain has ceased to work) continues to function. How 
can we ascertain this? 
We cannot.
We have means of communication (speech, writing) 
with beings who are in the same conditions as ourselves, i.e. whose mind acts through 
the brain; the existence of mind in such beings we can deduce by analogy with 
ourselves. But the existence of mind in other beings, 
irrespective of whether there are 
such beings or not,
we 
cannot ascertain
by our ordinary means. 
This last fact gives a key to the understanding of the true relation between the mind 
and the brain. Our mind, being merely a reflection thrown back by the brain, can only 
notice other reflections similar to itself. We have established earlier that we can make 
conclusions about the mind of other beings by means of