Physiologist Franz Josef Gall developed Organology and Cranioscopy. What field of study resulted from these?
Franz Josef Gall, born in 1758 studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg and completed his degree in Vienna. Observation of one of his classmates that had an odd shaped skull and possessed advanced language abilities led him to theorize about the shape of the human skull and human behavior. Based on his observations and study of skulls he formulated the theory of Organology and the method of Cranioscopy.
Gall's version of Organology states that the mind is a collection of independent entities housed within the brain. Cranioscopy is a method to determine the personality and development of mental and moral faculties on the basis of the external shape of the skull. Cranioscopy would be later known as Phrenology. Gall believed there were 27 fundamental faculties. Among them were: recollection of people, mechanical ability, talent for poetry, love of property, and even a murder instinct. Based on the surface of a person's skull, Gall could make assumptions about that person's fundamental faculties and therefore their character.
Early on, the methodology of Phrenology was considered doubtful even for the standards of its time, since many authors already regarded phrenology as pseudoscience in the 19th century. In spite of many problems associated with his work, Gall made significant contributions to neurological science. He died in Paris, August 22, 1828.
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