| 释义 |
phrenology|frɪˈnɒlədʒɪ|
[f. Gr. ϕρήν, ϕρεν- mind + -logy; lit. ‘mental science’; in F. phrénologie (Gall 1818, Hatz.-Darm.), Ger. phrenologie.]
The scientific study or theory of the mental faculties (quots. 1815, 1881); spec. (and in ordinary use), the theory originated by Gall and Spurzheim, that the mental powers of the individual consist of separate faculties, each of which has its organ and location in a definite region of the surface of the brain, the size or development of which is commensurate with the development of the particular faculty; hence, the study of the external conformation of the cranium as an index to the development and position of these organs, and thus of the degree of development of the various faculties.
1815T. Forster (title pamph. in Pamphleteer V. 219), Sketch of the new Anatomy and Physiology of the Brain and Nervous System of Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, considered as comprehending a complete system of Phrenology. Ibid. 222 The objection therefore falls to the ground, which accuses the new Phrenology of supporting the doctrine of Fatalism. [When reprinted in the same year, ‘Phrenology’ was altered to ‘Zoonomy’.] 1817Blackw. Mag. I. 367 The word Craniology is an invention of Spurzheim's enemies. It is not of the bone he treats, but of the manifestations of the mind as dependent on organization. Phrenology would be a more appropriate word. 1819G. Combe Ess. Phrenol. Introd., The real subject of the system is the Human Mind: I have therefore adopted the term ‘Phrenology’..as the most appropriate, and that which Dr. Spurzheim has for some years employed. 1841–4Emerson Ess., Nature Wks. (Bohn) I. 228 Astronomy to the selfish becomes astrology;..and anatomy and physiology become phrenology and palmistry. 1866Brande & Cox Dict. Sc., etc. II. 896/1 By forcing the inductive method of enquiry into mental philosophy, phrenology has laid the foundations of a true mental science. 1881Smithsonian Inst. Rep. (1883) 499 Again, we find this being [man] endowed with a set of faculties called intellectual, allied in certain particulars to those of the lower animals, but so far transcending them as to form a separate branch of study, requiring totally diverse methods and machinery of observation, and enlisting an entirely different set of investigators. To all these studies we have given the name of Comparative Psychology or Phrenology. |