Via Christa Appendices: Phrenology

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Phrenology

Phrenology (from Ancient Greek φρήν (phrēn) “mind”, and λόγος (logos) “knowledge”) is “the science of the mind as connected with the supposed organs of thought and passion in the brain,” posited by German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1796).

Phrenology is “the study of the conformation of the skull as indicative of mental faculties and traits of character.” The discipline was influential from about 1810 until the 1920s. Phrenology is today considered a pseudoscience.

Edna Lister never taught phrenology, but was conversant with its basic ideas because it was still popular while she was a young woman.

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References

Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Phrenology". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Sep. 2022.

Webster, Noah. "Phrenology." Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828. This work is in the public domain.

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