Editing Phrenology (section)

== History ==
[[File:1895-Dictionary-Phrenolog.png|thumb|left|A definition of phrenology with chart from ''Webster's Academic Dictionary,'' {{Circa|1895}}]]
Among the first to identify the brain as the major controlling center for the body were [[Hippocrates]] and his followers, inaugurating a major change in thinking from [[Egypt]]ian, biblical and early Greek views, which based bodily primacy of control on the heart.<ref name=finger>{{cite book |last=Finger |first=Stanley |title=Minds Behind the Brain: A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries |date=2004 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0195181821 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mindsbehindbrain0000fing/page/29 29] |url=https://archive.org/details/mindsbehindbrain0000fing |url-access=registration |quote=aristotle brain.}}</ref> This belief was supported by the Greek physician [[Galen]], who concluded that mental activity occurred in the brain rather than the heart, contending that the brain, a cold, moist organ formed of sperm, was the seat of the animal soul—one of three "souls" found in the body, each associated with a principal organ.<ref name=stanford>{{cite web |title=A History of the Brain |url=http://www.stanford.edu/class/history13/earlysciencelab/body/brainpages/brain.html |work=A History of the Body |publisher=[[Stanford University]], Early Science Lab |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-date=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023175224/http://www.stanford.edu/class/history13/earlysciencelab/body/brainpages/brain.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Swiss pastor [[Johann Kaspar Lavater]] (1741–1801) introduced the idea that [[physiognomy]] related to the specific character traits of individuals, rather than general types, in his ''Physiognomische Fragmente'', published between 1775 and 1778.<ref name="BaggermanDekker2011">{{cite book |first1=J. Arianne |last1=Baggerman |first2=Rudolf M. |last2=Dekker |first3=Michael James |last3=Mascuch |title=Controlling Time and Shaping the Self: Developments in Autobiographical Writing Since the Sixteenth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-pc5Sf6sNkC&pg=PA250 |year=2011 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-19500-4 |page=250– |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> His work was translated into English and published in 1832 as ''The Pocket Lavater, or, The Science of Physiognomy''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/56910710R.nlm.nih.gov |title=The pocket Lavater, or, The science of physiognomy : to which is added, An inquiry into the analogy existing between brute and human physiognomy, from the Italian of Porta |last=Lavater |first=Johann Caspar |year=1832}}</ref> He believed that thoughts of the mind and passions of the soul were connected with an individual's external frame.

<blockquote>Of the forehead, When the forehead is perfectly [[perpendicular]], from the hair to the eyebrows, it denotes an utter deficiency of understanding. (p. 24)</blockquote>

In 1796 the German physician [[Franz Joseph Gall]] (1758–1828) began lecturing on organology: the isolation of mental faculties{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=49}} and later [[cranioscopy]] which involved reading the skull's shape as it pertained to the individual. It was Gall's collaborator [[Johann Spurzheim|Johann Gaspar Spurzheim]] who would popularize the term "phrenology".{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=49}}{{sfn|Lyons|2009|p=56}}

In 1809 Gall began writing his principal<ref>1833, ''The American Journal of the Medical Sciences'', Southern Society for Clinical Investigation</ref> work, ''The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in General, and of the Brain in Particular, with Observations upon the possibility of ascertaining the several Intellectual and Moral Dispositions of Man and Animal, by the configuration of their Heads''. It was not published until 1819. In the introduction to this main work, Gall makes the following statement in regard to his doctrinal principles, which comprise the intellectual basis of phrenology:{{sfn|Lyons|2009|p=53}}

{{blockquote|
* The Brain is the organ of the mind
* The brain is not a homogenous unity, but an aggregate of mental organs with specific functions
* The cerebral organs are topographically localized
* Other things being equal, the relative size of any particular mental organ is indicative of the power or strength of that organ
* Since the skull ossifies over the brain during infant development, external craniological means could be used to diagnose the internal states of the mental characters}}

Through careful observation and extensive experimentation, Gall believed he had established a relationship between aspects of character, called ''faculties'', with precise ''organs'' in the [[Human brain|brain]].

Johann Spurzheim was Gall's most important collaborator. He worked as Gall's [[anatomist]] until 1813 when for unknown reasons they had a permanent falling out.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=49}} Publishing under his own name Spurzheim successfully disseminated phrenology throughout the [[United Kingdom]] during his lecture tours through 1814 and 1815{{sfn|Parssinen|1974|p=3}} and the [[United States]] in 1832 where he would eventually die.{{sfn|McCandless|1992|p=199}}

Gall was more concerned with creating a physical science, so it was through Spurzheim that phrenology was first spread throughout [[Europe]] and America.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=49}} Phrenology, while not universally accepted, was hardly a fringe phenomenon of the era. [[George Combe]] would become the chief promoter of phrenology throughout the English-speaking world after he viewed a brain dissection by Spurzheim, convincing him of phrenology's merits.

[[File:COMBE.jpg|thumb|[[George Combe]]]]The popularization of phrenology in the middle and working classes was due in part to the idea that scientific knowledge was important and an indication of sophistication and modernity.{{sfn|Leaney|2006|p=25}} Cheap and plentiful [[pamphlet]]s, as well as the growing popularity of scientific lectures as entertainment, also helped spread phrenology to the masses. Combe created a system of philosophy of the human mind{{sfn|Combe|1851|p=1}} that became popular with the masses because of its simplified principles and wide range of social applications that were in harmony with the liberal Victorian world view.{{sfn|Parssinen|1974|p=3}} George Combe's book ''On the Constitution of Man and its Relationship to External Objects'' sold more than 200,000 copies through nine editions.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=50}} Combe also devoted a large portion of his book to reconciling religion and phrenology, which had long been a sticking point. Another reason for its popularity was that phrenology balanced between free will and [[determinism]].{{sfn|Parssinen|1974|p=5}} A person's inherent faculties were clear, and no faculty was viewed as evil, though the abuse of a faculty was. Phrenology allowed for self-improvement and upward mobility, while providing fodder for attacks on aristocratic privilege.{{sfn|Parssinen|1974|p=5}}{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=51}} Phrenology also had wide appeal because of its being a reformist philosophy not a radical one.{{sfn|Parssinen|1974|p=6}} Phrenology was not limited to the common people, and both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert invited George Combe to read the heads of their children.{{sfn|Parssinen|1974|p=1}}

[[File:Phrenology journal (1848).jpg|thumb|upright|1848 edition of ''American Phrenological Journal'' published by Fowlers & Wells, New York]]
The American brothers Lorenzo Niles Fowler (1811–1896) and [[Orson Squire Fowler]] (1809–1887) were leading phrenologists of their time. Orson, together with associates [[Charlotte Fowler Wells#Career|Samuel Robert Wells]] and Nelson Sizer, ran the phrenological business and publishing house ''[[Fowler & Wells Company|Fowlers & Wells]]'' in [[New York City]]. Meanwhile, Lorenzo spent much of his life in England, where he initiated the famous phrenological publishing house L. N. Fowler & Co. and gained considerable fame with his ''phrenology head'' (a [[porcelain|china]] head showing the phrenological faculties), which has become a symbol of the discipline.<ref name="Phrenological head">{{cite web |url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I025/10287384.aspx |title=Oops... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318130249/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I025/10287384.aspx |archive-date=2010-03-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Orson Fowler was known for his [[Octagon house|octagonal house]].

Phrenology came about at a time when scientific procedures and standards for acceptable evidence were still being codified.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=261}} In the context of Victorian society, phrenology was a respectable scientific theory. The [[Phrenological Society of Edinburgh]] founded by George and Andrew Combe was an example of the credibility of phrenology at the time, and included a number of extremely influential social reformers and intellectuals, including the publisher [[Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802)|Robert Chambers]], the astronomer [[John Pringle Nichol]], the evolutionary environmentalist [[Hewett Cottrell Watson]], and asylum reformer [[William A. F. Browne]]. In 1826, out of the 120 members of the Edinburgh society an estimated one third were from a medical background.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=260}} By the 1840s there were more than 28 phrenological societies in London with more than 1,000 members.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=50}} Another important scholar was [[Luigi Ferrarese]], the leading Italian phrenologist.<ref name="Yasgur">{{cite book |title=Yasgur's Homeopathic Dictionary |first=Jay |last=Yasgur |date=2003 |page=184}}</ref> He advocated that governments should embrace phrenology as a scientific means of conquering many social ills, and his ''Memorie Riguardanti La Dottrina Frenologica'' (1836), is considered "one of the fundamental 19th-century works in the field".<ref name="Yasgur"/>

Traditionally the mind had been studied through [[introspection]]. Phrenology provided an attractive, biological alternative that attempted to unite all mental phenomena using consistent biological terminology.{{sfn|Lyons|2009|p=83}} Gall's approach prepared the way for studying the mind that would lead to the downfall of his own theories.{{sfn|Lyons|2009|p=75}} Phrenology contributed to development of physical anthropology, forensic medicine, knowledge of the nervous system and brain anatomy as well as contributing to applied psychology.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|pp=259–261}}

[[John Elliotson]] was a brilliant but erratic heart specialist who became a phrenologist in the 1840s. He was also a [[Animal magnetism|mesmerist]] and combined the two into something he called phrenomesmerism or phrenomagnatism.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=260}} Changing behaviour through mesmerism eventually won out in Elliotson's hospital, putting phrenology in a subordinate role.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=261}} Others amalgamated phrenology and [[Animal magnetism|mesmerism]] as well, such as the practical phrenologists Collyer and [[Joseph Rodes Buchanan|Joseph R. Buchanan]]. The benefit of combining mesmerism and phrenology was that the trance the patient was placed in was supposed to allow for the manipulation of his/her penchants and qualities.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=260}} For example, if the organ of self-esteem was touched, the subject would take on a haughty expression.{{sfn|McCandless|1992|p=213}}

{{Quote box |salign=right|align=right|width=20%
|quote = Phrenology has been psychology's great [[wikt:faux pas#English|''faux pas'']].
|author = {{mdash}}{{thinsp}}J.C. Flugel (1933)<ref>{{cite book |first=J. C. |last=Flugel |title=A Hundred Years of Psychology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOssj82DGisC |year=1933 |page=44 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>
}}

Phrenology was mostly discredited as a scientific theory by the 1840s. This was due only in part to a growing amount of evidence against phrenology.{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=260}} Phrenologists had never been able to agree on the most basic mental organ numbers, going from 27 to over 40,{{sfn|McGrew|1985|p=259}}{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=52}} and had difficulty locating the mental organs. Phrenologists relied on cranioscopic readings of the skull to find organ locations.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=81}} [[Jean Pierre Flourens]]' experiments on the brains of pigeons indicated that the loss of parts of the brain either caused no loss of function, or the loss of a completely different function than what had been attributed to it by phrenology. Flourens' experiment, while not perfect, seemed to indicate that Gall's supposed organs were imaginary.{{sfn|Lyons|2009|p=75}}{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=80}} Scientists had also become disillusioned with phrenology since its exploitation with the middle and working classes by entrepreneurs. The popularization had resulted in the simplification of phrenology and mixing in it of principles of physiognomy, which had from the start been rejected by Gall as an indicator of personality.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=56}} Phrenology from its inception was tainted by accusations of promoting materialism and atheism, and being destructive of morality. These were all factors that led to the downfall of phrenology.{{sfn|Staum|2003|p=81}}{{sfn|McCandless|1992|p=211}} Recent studies, using modern day technology like Magnetic Resonance Imaging have further disproven phrenology claims.<ref>{{Cite bioRxiv |last1=Parker Jones |first1=F. |date=31 January 2018 |title=An empirical, 21st century evaluation of phrenology |biorxiv=10.1101/243089}}</ref>

During the early 20th century, a revival of interest in phrenology occurred, partly because of studies of [[evolution]], [[criminology]] and [[anthropology]] (as pursued by [[Cesare Lombroso]]). The most famous British phrenologist of the 20th century was the [[London]] psychiatrist [[Bernard Hollander]] (1864–1934). His main works, ''The Mental Function of the Brain'' (1901) and ''Scientific Phrenology'' (1902), are an appraisal of Gall's teachings. Hollander introduced a quantitative approach to the phrenological diagnosis, defining a method for measuring the skull, and comparing the measurements with statistical averages.<ref name=Hollander>{{cite journal |last=Hollander |first=Bernard |title=A Contribution to a Scientific Phrenology |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1891 |volume=20 |pages=227–234 |jstor=2842265 |doi=10.2307/2842265}}</ref>

In Belgium, [[Paul Bouts]] (1900–1999) began studying phrenology from a pedagogical background, using the phrenological analysis to define an individual [[pedagogy]]. Combining phrenology with [[personality type|typology]] and [[graphology]], he coined a global approach known as [[psychognomy]]. Bouts, a [[Roman Catholic]] priest, became the main promoter of renewed 20th-century interest in phrenology and psychognomy in Belgium. He was also active in [[Brazil]] and [[Canada]], where he founded institutes for characterology. His works ''Psychognomie'' and ''Les Grandioses Destinées individuelle et humaine dans la lumière de la Caractérologie et de l'Evolution cérébro-cranienne'' are considered standard works in the field. In the latter work, which examines the subject of [[paleoanthropology]], Bouts developed a [[teleology|teleological]] and [[orthogenesis|orthogenetical]] view on a ''perfecting evolution,'' from the paleo-encephalical skull shapes of [[prehistory|prehistoric man]], which he considered still prevalent in [[criminal]]s and savages, towards a higher form of mankind, thus perpetuating phrenology's problematic racializing of the human frame. Bouts died on March 7, 1999. His work has been continued by the Dutch foundation PPP (''Per Pulchritudinem in Pulchritudine''), operated by Anette Müller, one of Bouts' students.

During the 1930s, Belgian colonial authorities in [[Rwanda]] used phrenology to explain the purported superiority of [[Tutsi]]s over [[Hutu]]s.<ref name=Rwanda>{{cite web |last=Rea |first=Lisa |title=Applying Restorative Justice to the Genocide in Rwanda |url=https://f3magazine.unicri.it/?p=396 |access-date=10 June 2012 |archive-date=14 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914045843/http://f3magazine.unicri.it/?p=396 |url-status=live }}</ref>