In the favorite novel of my youth "Anne of Windy Willows" (aka "Anne of Windy Poplars", but I somehow prefer the Willows version for the vivid visual image the title invokes), Anne Shirley gives a piece of her philosophy of mind.
"My brain agrees with every word you say but my heart simply won't," said Anne. "I feel, in spite of everything, that Katherine Brooke is only a shy, unhappy girl under her disagreeable rind. I can never make any headway with her in Summerside, but if I can get her to Green Gables I believe it will thaw her out."
(From L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Windy Willows).
In the context of referring to the emotional and sentimental dispositions with which one goes about in one's life, "heart" equals "brain". It is at least so from the modern brain scientific point of view. However, the wisdom of folk psychology often distinguishes the two, as the above Anne Shirley quote tells us.
The phenomenology of the conscious mind, as it is based entirely on the activities of neurons, is in essence bound to the brain. It is interesting to see how the word "heart" is used as a means of extending one's sensitivities beyond this limitation. Anne is trying to make the life brighter for her deprived colleague Katherine Brooke, and is thus trying to go beyond the borders of individualities. The colloquial expression "heart" as opposed to "brain" thus might reflect our often unconscious wish to go beyond the dichotomy between the Dionysian and the Apollonian sensu Nietzsche.
3 comments:
oh. I have learned many things today. I especially found the great sentence in your essay, that is, “Anne is trying to …”
When I read “Anne of Windy Willows”, I loved Katherine so much. There are lots of these kinds of peoples in our world and I become Katherine sometimes.
I am thinking about good nurse and bad nurse, but I am easily confused when I think about personal and professional attributes. My thought may be strange/incorrect, need to watch your TV program.
Inspired by your blog, recently from time to time I have been indulging myself in my old beloved friend, Anne's world again.
Today, I spotted the place where Anne's typical philosophy beautifully described, from "Anne of the Island."
"In imagination she sailed over stroried seas that the distant shining shores of "faery lands of forlorn", where lost Atlantis and Elysium lie, with the evening star for pilot, to the land of Heart's Desire. And she was richer in those dreams than in realities, for things seen pass away, but the things that unseen are eternal."
(From L.M.Montgomery's Anne of the Island).
In this scene, Anne is sitting alone by the little hidden brook
near Green Gables, under the moon light of peace and serenity.
Inspired by your blog, recently from time to time I have been indulging myself in my old beloved friend, Anne's world again.
Today, I spotted the place where Anne's typical philosophy beautifully described, from "Anne of the Island."
"In imagination she sailed over stroried seas that the distant shining shores of "faery lands of forlorn", where lost Atlantis and Elysium lie, with the evening star for pilot, to the land of Heart's Desire. And she was richer in those dreams than in realities, for things seen pass away, but the things that unseen are eternal."
(From L.M.Montgomery's Anne of the Island).
In this scene, Anne is sitting alone by the little hidden brook
near Green Gables, under the moon light of peace and serenity.
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