Franz Joseph Gall came to Copenhagen,and for a brief moment the brain was the talk of the town

ABSTRACT

When the inventor of phrenology, Franz Joseph Gall, came to Denmark in the fall of 1805, he was met with great enthusiasm and fascination among the general public, as well as within the scientific community. His visit was an event that was covered by the newspapers unlike any other scientific lecture. However, as soon as Gall left, public interest in phrenology almost instantaneously vanished. Different theories have been put forth in the attempt to answer the question as to why phrenology never found a audience in Denmark. The Danish phrenologist Carl Otto explained it by referring to the poor quality of the Danish phrenological publications. Danish historians have argued that phrenology was too incompatible with the dominant scientific paradigm, Natürphilosophie. This article argues that the newspaper coverage of phrenology was more about sensational news stories than about science, and ultimately phrenology was a fad that wore off when the newspapers shifted their focus to other news.     

Alcmaeon of Croton's Observations on Health, Brain, Mind, and Soul

Alcmaeon of Croton (sixth-fifth century BC), a pre-Socratic physician-philosopher, introduced the concept that mind and soul are located in the brain. Alcmaeon made observations about seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling and distinguished perception from understanding. Alcmaeon contributed two major ideas to natural sciences: (1) the brain is the seat of human intelligence, and (2) physicians should draw conclusions from empirical observations, an idea that implicitly rejects the alternative notion that science should depend on "divine revelation." Two thousand and five-hundred years later, these two insights remain true and guarantee Alcmaeon a place in the history of neuroscience.     

Alcmaeon of Croton's Observations on Health,Brain, Mind,and Soul

Alcmaeon of Croton (sixth–fifth century BC), a pre-Socratic physician–philosopher, introduced the concept that mind and soul are located in the brain. Alcmaeon made observations about seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling and distinguished perception from understanding. Alcmaeon contributed two major ideas to natural sciences: (1) the brain is the seat of human intelligence, and (2) physicians should draw conclusions from empirical observations, an idea that implicitly rejects the alternative notion that science should depend on “divine revelation.” Two thousand and five-hundred years later, these two insights remain true and guarantee Alcmaeon a place in the history of neuroscience.     

Brain Physiology and the Mind in the Nineteenth Century

This article explores the integration of research and theory in nineteenth-century neurophysiology. Four generalities combine to explain their integration. They are the core beliefs of the neurologists, the pervasive habit of perceiving mind when observing behavior, the criteria for the existence of mind, and mind as an efficient cause. These generalities help explain specific choices made by certain researchers to work within the traditional model of the nervous system, to reject materialism, and to find intelligence and voluntary behaviors in physiological systems.     

The Austrian idea: An idea of nationhood in the kingdom and realms of the emperor Franz Joseph I

This article considers the nature of communitarian thought in late twentieth century Anglo-American political philosophy. It argues that communitarianism arose out of a critique of modernist theories of justice such as that of John Rawls shared by a group of writers committed to idealist principles that emphasised narrative approaches to the study of political thought, the importance of historical context, and popular participation in political life. It then focuses on one particular American strand of communitarian thought, exemplified by the work of Michael Walzer and Michael Sandel, which draws on a tradition of radical democracy and, in so doing, helps both to create and to transform a new American republicanism. An important connection between Walzer and Sandel is that they share the view that egalitarian politics must draw on shared traditions of social criticism rather than on the abstract individualism that they associate with Rawls. A key difference is that Walzer's vision of American life is pluralist and enthusiastic about difference, whereas Sandel's is republican and concerned above all with fostering civic virtue and identification with the state and political community.