Author: Sidney Smith

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-08

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9781330983188

Excerpt from The Principles of Phrenology Th following Treatise owes its origin to the conviction that there was both room and need for it. The only works which even pretend to give more than a mere outline, or grammar of Phrenology, offer to the public an account of the most popular of all sciences at the most anti-popular of all prices. The Author has endeavoured to furnish ample details of the theory of mind and morals, which forms the subject of this digest, at a cost which will render it accessible to the great body of the people. Phrenology has left the discoveries of its original expounders at a great distance behind. The Institutes of Gall and Spurzheim, excellent as in many respects they are, have now become almost obsolete. Mr. Combe's System contains an admirable exposition of the present state of the science; but as his views differ materially from those of many, and as his doctrines, both relative to the function of the organs and the applications of the principles of this new philosophy, were supposed to be liable to numerous and grave objections, the writer of this work was induced to undertake it for the double purpose of expounding his own opinions of the analysis of the faculties, and of exposing what he conceives to be the errors of others. That he himself has escaped from falling into many, he does not venture to hope - that he will be blamed for more than he has committed, he feels too well assured. But if he shall have succeeded in rendering a competent knowledge of the science more easily attainable, in exciting a healthy spirit of free inquiry, and, above all, in stimulating others to a more careful investigation of, and to fresh discoveries in, that most defective of all departments of Phrenology, its metaphysics, he shall rest satisfied that he has not written in vain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.