Pros And Cons Of Phrenology

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In the nineteenth century, phrenology, an area of pseudoscience, originated from the theories of Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall. Gall theorized that human personality and behavior are based on the shape and size of the regions in the brain (Wyhe, 2011). The basic principles of this theory were that the brain is the organ of the mind, the mind is composed of multiple, distinct, innate abilities, each ability must have a separate organ in the brain, the size of the organ is a measure of its power, the shape of the brain is determined by the development of the organs, and the surface of the skull can be an accurate guide of psychological abilities and traits (Wyhe, 2011). The idea that bumps on the back of one’s head provides clues to their personality was a central theme in phrenology, involving linking bumps on a person’s head to certain aspects of their personality and character (Cherry, 2014). The psychological claim of phrenology raises a question. Does phrenology play a role in correctly predicting human personality and behavior? The scientific method can be …show more content…
In criminal cases, head, face, and body shapes had two purposes which were identifying past criminals and predicting future criminals. In nineteenth century practice, mapping the body and head had greater potential within phrenology, which was detecting criminal types. Throughout the late nineteenth century, the typing of every kind of physical trait was widely popular, often going between identifying past criminals and predicting future criminals (Faigman, 2008). Of course, Gall's theory of phrenology faded due to limitations. As a result, phrenology failed in predicting the internal nature of a person from the external shape of the skull (Faigman, 2008). Unfortunately, however, it was also misused by making judgments of individuals based on their skull
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