Phrenology

In the beginning…

Phrenology came from the theories of the idiosyncratic Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828).

In a nutshell…

Phrenology: Popular 1819/1820 in Britain (Victorian Period) Coined by the physician T.I.M. Forster in 1815. Greek Roots: phren: 'mind' and logos:

'study/discourse'. Gall never approved of the term phrenology. He

called his system simply organology and Schädellehre and later simply 'the physiology of the brain.’

The basic assumptions of Gall…

That moral and intellectual faculties are innate. That their exercise or manifestation depends on

organization.  That the brain is the organ contains all of the

capacities for sentiments and faculties.  That the brain is composed of many particular

organs that fulfill different intellectual and emotional capacities. 

That the form of the head or cranium represents the form of the brain, and thus reflects the relative development of the brain organs. 

The bottom line…

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.

Example

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 behavior.

Abuse of the System

In the early 19th century, Phrenology gained a rapidly growing interest.

Abuse of the science for commercial purposes in the Victorian period

Phrenological Parlors Stain the image of Phrenology as

a real science, and their bad influence lives up to today

Twentieth Century Revival

Evolutionism Criminal Anthropology London psychiatrist Bernard HOLLANDER

The Mental Function of the Brain (1901) and Scientific Phrenology (1902) are an objective appraisal of the teachings of Gall.

Prof. Bouts, Belgium psychologist. Founded institutes for characterology in Canada and Brazil. His works "Psychognomie" and "Les Grandioses Destinées“  

20th Century Attacks on Phrenology

Again under attack because of the development of psycho-analysis.

Subjective approach = psychoanalysis clearly opposed objective approach = Phrenology.  Furthermore, fascist ideologies like Nazism have misused some elements of craniometry in the framework of their infamous racist doctrines.

These theories, albeit completely distinct from scientific Phrenology, have given a very bad name to the science.