Definition of phrenology
: the study of the conformation of the skull based on the belief that it is indicative of mental faculties and character
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Recent Examples of phrenology from the Web
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Pseudosciences like phrenology were used to politely assert the inferiority of black people.
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The movie talks a bit about the pseudoscientific lineage of this kind of thought — phrenology, eugenics and other attempts to use data to enforce social hierarchies.
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Pseudosciences such as phrenology and eugenics have attempted to ascribe a biological rationalization for the oppression of certain groups.
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This is obviously not a side of phrenology that Mr. Colicchio, who is outspoken about his progressive politics, embraces.
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This belief isn’t based on empirical evidence, but on a 19th-century hypothesis about free will that has more in common with phrenology than with our modern understanding of how brains work.
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No chemistry department would extend an invitation to an alchemist; no reputable department of psychology would entertain a lecture espousing phrenology.
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By Pankaj Mishra Back in the 19th century, powerful men legitimating cruel inequalities thought phrenology was objective.
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Some of these studies have not been replicated, and have been criticized as a modern form of phrenology.
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Origin and Etymology of phrenology
Medical Dictionary
medical Definition of phrenology
plural phrenologies
: the former study of the conformation of the skull based on the belief that it is indicative of mental faculties and character
Learn More about phrenology
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about phrenology
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