Phrenology was a science of character divination,
faculty psychology, theory of brain
and what the 19th-century phrenologists called "the only true science of
mind." Phrenology came from the theories of the idiosyncratic Viennese physician
Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828).
The basic tenets of Gall's system were:
1.The brain is the organ of the mind.
2. The mind is composed of multiple, distinct, innate faculties.
3. Because they are distinct, each faculty must have a separate seat or "organ" in the brain.
4. The size of an organ, other things being equal, is a measure of its power.
5. The shape of the brain is determined by the development of the various organs.
6. As the skull takes its shape from the brain, the surface of the skull can be read as an accurate index of psychological aptitudes and tendencies. (For a description in Gall's own words see: Letter to von Retzer)
2. The mind is composed of multiple, distinct, innate faculties.
3. Because they are distinct, each faculty must have a separate seat or "organ" in the brain.
4. The size of an organ, other things being equal, is a measure of its power.
5. The shape of the brain is determined by the development of the various organs.
6. As the skull takes its shape from the brain, the surface of the skull can be read as an accurate index of psychological aptitudes and tendencies. (For a description in Gall's own words see: Letter to von Retzer)
So it was believed that by examining the shape and unevenness
of a head or skull, one could discover the development of the particular
cerebral "organs" responsible for different intellectual
aptitudes and character traits. For example, a prominent protuberance in
the forehead at the position attributed to the organ of Benevolence
was meant to indicate that the individual had a "well developed" organ of
Benevolence and would therefore be
expected to exhibit benevolent behaviour.
However, like so many popular sciences, Gall
and the phrenologists sought only confirmations for their
hypotheses and did not apply the same standard to contradictory evidence.
Any evidence or anecdote which seemed to confirm the science was readily
and vociferously accepted as "proof" of the "truth" of phrenology. At the
same time, contradictory findings, such as a not very benevolent and disagreeable
person having a well-developed organ of Benevolence
were always explained away. This was often done by claiming that the activity
of other organs counteracted Benevolence. What was never accepted by phrenologists,
however, was that admitting that the activity of a particular faculty could
be independent of the size of its organ undermined the most fundamental
assumptions of the science- and thereby rendered all of its conclusions
inconsistent and meaningless. (For a more in depth account of the origins
of phrenology see: van Wyhe-Read more
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