The Science and Myth behind Phrenology Essay -- Biology Essays

The Science and Myth behind PhrenologyPhrenology is a phenomenon that attempts to relate ones personality and mental capabilities with the form and structure of ones skull. This lore became popular in the nineteenth century as the Eugenics movement gained widespread approval. In Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, the reference to Phrenology is apparent in the scene where Marlow visits the doctor. thence with a certain eagerness the doctor solicited me whether I would let him measure my head. Rather surprisedhe produced a thing like calipers. I the doctor always ask leave, in the interests of science, to measure the crania of those going out there the African jungle.He gave me a searching glance, and made another note. Ever any madness in your family? he asked, in a matter-of-fact tome. I felt very annoyed. Is that question in the interests of science, too? (Conrad 13). As it can be inferred, Marlow patronizes the doctor by implying that Phrenology is not a scientific practic e because it cannot be used to determine the psychologcal fitness of an individual. Regardless, the spectacle of this practice in the late 1900s most likely gave Conrad the impetus to compose this parodied scene, which depicts Phrenology as a baseless science however, the practice is not wholly baseless. The founder of Phrenology, Austrian physician Franz Joseph Gall, determined the existence of a relationship amidst the morphology of the skull and the human character (Peter 1). Franz asserted that the brain is responsible for a humans mental capacities. He attempted to prove this assessment by making statementsfound in his chief work, The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in General, and ... ...d the movement to justify their White supremacist, Aryan revolution. Fascist ideologies like national socialism have misused some elements of craniometry in the framework of their infamous racist doctrines (Peter 3). As a result of this misuse of Phrenology, it lost muc h of the scientific evaluate it hand gained in Western Civilization to the emerging field of psycho-analysis, whose father, Sigmund Freud, believed that the objectivity of Phrenology was limited because of its lack of introspection. Regardless of Phrenologys disgraced past, it can still be regarded as a well-founded science that has an objective groundwork for assessing the importance of self-knowledge, self-achievement, education, and human relationships (Peter 4) in human development. Works CitedPeter, Van den Bosche. Phrenology. http//134.184.33.110/phreno/intro21.html. 05 October 2002.