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I agree with Hans Visser that the "animal spirits" concept in Keynes does not refer
specifically to physiology, or that it does not have any profound philiosophical
connotation, Cartesian, Bergsonian or other. I do not think, however, that a Galenic
influence was ever suggested. Simply, as it very often happens, old medical theories and
concepts die hard in other fields or common parlance (e.g., the concept of "lucid
interval" in jurisprudence, "moron", "idiot" and "imbecile" in everyday language). Keynes
used "animal spirits" as a colloquial expression to denote the mood of the entrepreneurs,
but from a economic theoretical standpoint the concept is very important as it is hard to
pin down.
 
Nicholas Theocarakis 
National University of Athens 
 
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