Article ID: CBB001551284

George Combe and Common Sense (2015)

unapi

This article examines the history of two fields of enquiry in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Scotland: the rise and fall of the common sense school of philosophy and phrenology as presented in the works of George Combe. Although many previous historians have construed these histories as separate, indeed sometimes incommensurate, I propose that their paths were intertwined to a greater extent than has previously been given credit. The philosophy of common sense was a response to problems raised by Enlightenment thinkers, particularly David Hume, and spurred a theory of the mind and its mode of study. In order to succeed, or even to be considered a rival of these established understandings, phrenologists adapted their arguments for the sake of engaging in philosophical dispute. I argue that this debate contributed to the relative success of these groups: phrenology as a well-known historical subject, common sense now largely forgotten. Moreover, this history seeks to question the place of phrenology within the sciences of mind in nineteenth-century Britain.

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Authors & Contributors
van Wyhe, John
Packham, Ellen
Gressis, Robert
Mills, R. J. W.
Bow, Charles Bradford
Wood, Paul B.
Concepts
Philosophy
Reason
Phrenology
Skepticism
Psychology
Newtonianism
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
Enlightenment
17th century
Places
Scotland
England
Great Britain
United States
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