Joshua Stephens

Composition II
Krupinski
M/W 1700-1830
I, Homunculus
Homunculus, homunculus, and homunculus. The same word repeated, meaning
something entirely different in each usage, one of the many fascinations with the word
Homunculus. In one iteration of the word, it describes a physical shell, given life, with no
manner of mind or spirit Think of this as Frankensteins monster, a creature that is simply an
animated patchwork of human flesh. In a second variation, homunculus refers to a spiritual
being that resides in a flask, brought into creation by an alchemist and his talents. (M.B.
Campbell) Think of this as The Dwarf in The Flask (Ill.1), a mind that has no physical
container, outside the flask that allows it to exist. Finally, homunculus can refer to the
manifestation of self that resides within the mind, or the Little You that views the world from
within you (Ill. 2) Think of this final definition, as Conscious Self, as this is the topic of this
papers discussion, with a brief call back to the previous two iterations of my beloved word.
Lets talk about you. No, not you The Reader; but rather You, whom resides within
The Reader. That might have come off strange, so let me explain it better for you; whom I am
addressing in this statement is the conscious viewer that resides within yourself. The thing that
holds all of your likes, dislikes, fears, passions, sentiments and emotions. Some people would
call this Identity, others would call this Self; I simply call it I for myself, and You for
yourself. I want to talk about that part of you, that consists of everything that you are, and what
my theories are on that extraordinary state of existence.

Stephens 2

When you woke up this morning, what did you do? Did you turn over on your pillow and
stare groggily at your alarm, wishing that it would turn off? What were your thoughts on this?
What happened when you got up and made way toward the bathroom as you answered the call of
nature? Did you lament the oncoming toils of the day? Was it You that was feeling those
experiences, or was it The Reader going through the motions? As you read these words, are
you reading the words and are they sinking into your brain, as it is passes through your ocular
nerves, transferring to your occipital lobe, arcing across your cerebellum, creating new flows
of synapses as it travels from axon to axon, leading to a decision of personal preference in your
frontal lobe, as it gets returned as a short term memory in your hippocampus? Or, are you simply
viewing the words, and letting them settle into your mind without much of a thought? Well,
heres a curious question for you. Did you notice the arrow? If you did, why did you, the same
can be asked if you didnt; why didnt you notice the arrow? Now that your attention is focused
on the arrow, why are you thinking about it? What purpose does the arrow have in being there?
Is it a typo? Is it a mind trick? What is with that darn arrow? The fact that you are having those
questions, means simply that you have an active mind, however is it You having those
inquires, or is it your brain pondering upon those questions, as they come flowing to you. This
all sounds very complex doesnt it, well fortunately that all happened within a period of a
milliseconds, so dont think about it too hard.
You see, there is a concept regarding this state of Self that I am referring to, it is a
concept called Dualism by French philosopher Rene Descartes, who wrote his theories in his
opus, Discourse of Method in the 17th century. He believed that that Mind and Body were
independent of one another, despite being relevant and connected to one another. Descartes term
for this state was, in fact Homunculus, or The Little Man. Descartes purported that Self or

Stephens 3

Homunculus exists within an undefinable space that is linked to the Mind, which controls the
Body as a shell to view and interact with the world around it. He also believed that the Brain and
Mind were two separate entities, the Brain being more of a controller, and the Mind being the
Rational/Logic/Higher resolution of the Individual. When we look at this theory, we can say
that Descartes believed that The Mind was in fact the afterimage of the Homunculus, and
ultimately, its conclusive evidence to its existence.
Now, Descartes had critics to his theory such as Thomas Nagel, who comprised the
argument What is like to be a bat? and Frank Jackson, who wrote Marys Room; A
knowledge experiement both piece being logical arguments to his theory, however lets take a
medical and psychological view into this. When we look at the brain, we have various portions
that do several different things. We have the cerebral cortex which consists of our lobes,
occipital, temporal, frontal, perianal and cerebel, which allow us the ability to interact with
reality around us. (K.A. Johnson) With the exception of the frontal lobe, you can think of this as
our basic life necessities. These are the same parts that animals have, so for the sake of
discussion I will refer to this group of lobes as Locus Animalia [Location of Animality]. When
we look further inward into the brain, we have a system that is comprised of the Thalamus,
Hypothalamus, and our Brain Stem. (J. A. Becker) These are the parts of the brain that take care
of our most important features, things that we do not think about, but happen nonetheless; such
examples are digestion, heart rate, respiratory regulation and our attachment from the brain to
the body. For this discussion, I will call this group Locus Imperium [Location of Control].
Through a medical standpoint, a generalized and simplified way to understand these two very
different yet similar locations, is to call Locus Imperium as The Brain within the Brain. Now,
doesnt that sound a bit similar to a concept that was brought up before?

Stephens 4

Am I purporting that the Self that Descartes describes in his theory of Dualism, is in
fact a resident of this Locus Imperium? No, but it sounds nice doesnt it? The Locus Imperium is
merely the control center for the body. Without it, we would be nothing; we would simply not be
alive. So does that mean that Self resides in the Locus Animalia? No, that is not what I am
proposing either; because of these are the sectors that give us our interactions with the world
around us. They are the centers for our senses, similar to animals who possess complex central
nervous systems. So, where is the Self then? Call back to when I was describing different parts
in the Locus Animalia, note that I left out specific lobe in that. That exception was the frontal
lobe, which controls our likes, dislikes, judgment, and is one of the most important lobes when it
comes to the limbic system, a system that regulates emotions. One could say that the concept of
Self is contained within this frontal lobe, as it contains all the Higher Mind functions.
Lets look into some evidence into this theory, when elderly patients suffer from
Dementia, they often lose touch of those around them, and themselves as well. This disease
usually applies to the frontal lobe region of the brain, its a sort of rotting of the Self if you
will. (NIH) When patients deal with head trauma to the front portion of their cranium, they often
go through personality changes such as short term amnesia to full blown personality
metamorphosis. The latter is rare, however documented in cases. (www.brainandspinalcord.org)
Another piece of evidence is an attachment of a PET scan of a patient with Schizophrenia, (Ill.
3), the highlighted portion that shows irregularity in the frontal lobe of the brain. Schizophrenia
is known as a splitting of The Mind/Self and its effects widespread in variety, each as
corrupting to the Self as the other. However, I believe the most damning piece of evidence to
seal the point is the now debunk practice of lobotomy. A horrid practice that involved a surgeon
cutting a portion of the frontal lobe to alleviate mental strain in those who are forgone in their

Stephens 5

affliction. More often than not, the results of this practice would render the patient emotionless,
cold, unaware and soulless. (intropsych.com)
The evidence is certainly strong in favor of physical appropriation of the Self; however
please continue to humor both sides of the argument. Have you reached an answer about the
arrow yet? About why I had put it there, or did you simply put that as an aside as I continued
with the paper again? Now that you are thinking about it, you are probably wondering why I
keep on bringing it up. It certainly cant be a typo now, for Ive mentioned it twice, but well get
to that in good time. For the opposite side of the argument, I bring up the case of the Mentally
Handicapped, and those with development disabilities, highlighting specifically those with
severe Downs syndrome. Do these people have Selves? When you look at their interaction
with the world around them, they are certainly inhibited in their ability to do so, but are they
truly mindless? In society, the majority views the mentally handicapped both positively and
negatively in a lesser way, almost if they werent really people to begin with. In either regard,
that opinion is complete tripe, because these people have Selves albeit limited to what their
restrictions are. They are still aware, they are conscious human beings who experience fear, joy,
pain and the wide spectrum of individuality that normal human beings possess, despite the
damage on their brains.
What I am proposing is that Self is a harmonization of The Brain, The Mind,
and The Process of Life (Soul), and not what we understand to be Identity. The Mind as per
Identity exists because the frontal lobe of our brain houses such storage to do so. Limitations to
this storage area, such as developmental, psychological, or physical damage, effects the
limitations and potentials of Identity or The Reader. As per Self it exists as a state of
phenomena; it IS You as your core, beyond the definitions you give yourself at the end of the

Stephens 6

day. I believe when Descartes speaks of Mind he speaks of this definition. In a word,
Consciousness, not just being mentally active or alive, which is the medical variation, but rather
Consciousness, this phenomena of You. Fascinating isnt it? Weve come across another word
that has multiple meanings, despite being spelt the same way, and regarding two similar topics.
Now, you may scoff at the idea that I am incorporating both Dualism and
Pragmatism into this Homunculus proposition; however lets go back to the two other
definitions of homunculus. Physical body homunculus, a creature that exists without mind or
soul, an animation of nerves, which regulate how the body moves. Are we homunculi in that
sense, do we simply live by the body, obeying the signals that come from our central nervous
system? Do we shuffle along, thinking only of how to survive and to continue living in our form?
Lets go back to the second definition of homunculus, The Dwarf in The Flask. Are we simply
wisps contained within a shell, brought about by a wise creator, fated to return to our origin, or
fade away to nothingness when our container is broken? Well, I suppose it all comes down on
what you thought about that arrow. Am I insinuating that because of your answer, you are
mindless, or formless? Of course not, let me explain what this revelation is.
The odd thing about the word homunculus is that each definition refers to a different
composition of the human being. Homunculus when it comes to The Body, The State of Life
(Soul) and The Mind. The first example is The Body, the second, The Soul, and finally this
papers focus, The Mind. This is the trifecta of being human and when combined, forms
something known as You. The Body simply is a body, it is your being that You are
contained in, and this includes your Locus Animalia and Locus Imperium. The Soul is
contained within The Body, similar to the Dwarf in The Flask; this is Life given form or
Consciousness in the medical terminology. Finally, The Mind is because of our complex

Stephens 7

central nervous system and our frontal lobe being able to appropriate definition unto an Identity.
The three are absolutely co-dependent on one other, however the singularity that arises from this
trinity, exists as a harmonic frequency of all three, no matter how limited one part of the trinity
would be. The thing that is curious is that You are not the direct byproduct of these three
sections, but rather through these three section You are manifested. You came into being,
and You will fade from being, however it is not outright impossible to say that You will
never manifest again, if the three sections are made available once more.
So what does that have to do with that arrow? Well, if you passed it by after multiple
instances, you are probably more focused on The Body, you dont really take time to sweat the
small stuff, you are more focused on living. If you noticed it before but havent decided upon an
answer, you are more focused on The Soul, because you simply see it as it is, something that
exists for reasons you cant really explain, but are definitely apparent. If you noticed it,
pondered about it, and found an answer, then you are focused on The Mind, especially if you had
some emotive reaction to it. The thing that we need to learn from this experiment is that it is
through continued maintenance of all three sectors, we nurture our singular Self.
As a final point, merely for speculative joys, I would like to discuss the concept of The
Godhead which is similar to what I am describing. The Godhead is a symbol referring to that
space within a trinity, which exists as God. (Ill. 4) Its curious that I had mentioned that Self
resides as the center piece of the homunculi trinity; notice the symbol of The Godhead, it has a
blank space in the middle where God resides. Lets take a symbol for God and place it in
that space, a symbol that is often brought up in the practices of Self Enlightenment, and Self
Awareness. You can do this as well, do you notice anything interesting when we put an eye in
this blank space in the center? (Ill. 5) Its eerily similar to the Eye of Providence a symbol

Stephens 8

most commonly known for being The Eye of God. (Ill. 6) Now, in self enlightenment practices
and beliefs, where is there something added to human visage? Need a hint? Its an eye seated in
front of the frontal lobe, creating a trinity of eyes. (Ill. 7)
Is this little indulgence to be taken seriously? Of course not, however it is interesting food
for thought. After all, weve havent really answered the question have we? Weve only
proposed the possibility, not the validation of the Self. That, and weve inadvertently created
three even greater questions in this proposition. Where does Self come from? Where does it
go? and Is Self brought on internally by The Mind, Soul and Body, or is it an external state
of existence that is manifested when the aforementioned three are present? These questions will
be addressed in my next paper, however please do not think there will be an absolute answer.
After all, these are just theories and hypothesizes created by a homunculus, a homunculus, and a
homunculus.

Illustrations

Stephens 9

Illustration 1:

Illustration 2:

Stephens 10

Illustration 3:

Illustration 4:

Illustration 5:

Stephens 11

Illustration 6:

Illustration 7:

Stephens 12

Citations
"Artificial Men: Alchemy, Transubstantiation, and the Homunculus." Mary Bell Campbell
ARCADE. Web. <http://arcade.stanford.edu/rofl/artificial-men-alchemy-transubstantiation-andhomunculus>.
Illustration 1: The Homunculus Grows... Brettman/CORBIS, Web.
<http://stuffo.hswstatic.com/stufftoblowyourmind/wpcontent/uploads/sites/23/2013/12/Homunculuslab.jpg>
Illustration 2: The Soul Antropromorphized Bill Vallicella , February 17, 2012 Web.
<http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2012/02/homunculus.html>
"The Whole Brain Atlas." The Whole Brain Atlas. Keith A. Johnson M.D., J. Alex Becker Phd
Web. <http://www.med.harvard.edu/aanlib/home.html>
SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Discourse on Method. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC.
n.d.. Web.
"The Basics of Frontotemporal Disorders." National Institute on Aging. Web.
<http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/frontotemporal-disorders/basics-frontotemporaldisorders>.
"Frontal Lobe Brain Injury." Frontal Lobe Brain Injury. Web.
<http://www.brainandspinalcord.org/brain-injury/frontal-lobe.html>.
Illustration 3: Web. <http://www.humanillnesses.com/images/hdc_0000_0001_0_img0070.jpg>
"Effects of Lobotomies | in Chapter 02: Human Nervous System | from Psychology: An
Introduction by Russ Dewey." Effects of Lobotomies | in Chapter 02: Human Nervous System |
from Psychology: An Introduction by Russ Dewey. Web
http://www.intropsych.com/ch02_human_nervous_system/lobotomy_effects.html
Illustration 4: Web.<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/TriquetraVesica.svg/2000px-Triquetra-Vesica.svg.png>
Illustration 6: Web. <http://www.altheadlines.com/up/p/9/0/51009/Christian-Eye-OfProvidence.png>
Illustration 7: Web. <https://woottonwondersandwoes.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/thirdeye.jpg?w=584>