L'anima o il cervello? Sant'Uffizio, Civiltà Cattolica e teologia morale di fronte alla teoria frenologica
- Book Title:
- La Compagnie de Jésus des Anciens Régimes au monde contemporain (XVIII-XX siècles)
- Book Editor:
- Format:
- Book Chapter
- Year:
- 2020
- Publisher:
- Ecole Française de RomeInstitutum Historicum Societatis Iesu
- Place published:
- Rome
- Language:
- Abstract:
According to one of his collaborators, Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), formulator of the theory of cerebral localization, owned the skulls of two Jesuits. At the top of their forehead, the German physician believed that he could see "the organ of analogy” present in the preachers and in all of those skilled in the use of similes, and through this, able to move the minds of an audience. The nineteenth century witnessed an intensification of debates on the traceability of the organic root of faculties and, in general, of the entire psychic structure of the individual; these debates were present in medical discourse in various forms. Phrenology, in particular, triggered a reconsideration of the idea of the human being, calling into question centuries-old theological debates, above all that of moral responsibility based on the possibility of free choice. This chapter investigates the positions taken by the restored Society of Jesus in relation to these questions over a broad period and through various means, including internal debates and public statements.
- Who (Jesuits):
- What (Subjects):
- Where (Locations):
- When (Centuries):
- Publisher URL:
- Page Range:
- 623-638
- ISBN:
- 97888704138169782728314195