Physiognomy

Physiognomy (Gk. physis, nature and gnosis, knowledge) is a pseudoscience, based upon the belief that the study and judgement of a person's outer appearance, primarily the face, reflects their character or personality. Up until the time of English King Henry VIII, its validity was so widely assumed that it was taught in universities and was an everyday concept that had developed into a regular Middle English word spelled fisnamy or visnomy. After that time, scholastic leaders settled on the more erudite form 'physiognomy' and began to discourage the whole idea of 'fisnamy'.

Ancient physiognomy

Notions of the relationship between an individual's outward appearance and inner character are as old as time, and are occasionally reflected in early Greek poetry. The first indications of a developed theory appear in fifth century Athens, where one Zopyrus was said to be expert in the art. By the fourth century, the philosopher Aristotle makes frequent reference to theories of the sort, and also to some sort of literature. Aristotle's own thought was receptive, as can be seen from a passage in his Prior Analytics (2.27).

Related Topics:
Greek - Fifth century - Athens - Fourth century - Aristotle

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:It is possible to infer character from features, if it is granted that the body and the soul are changed together by the natural affections: I say 'natural', for though perhaps by learning music a man has made some change in his soul, this is not one of those affections which are natural to us; rather I refer to passions and desires when I speak of natural emotions. If then this were granted and also that for each change there is a corresponding sign, and we could state the affection and sign proper to each kind of animal, we shall be able to infer character from features. (Trans. A. J. Jenkinson)

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The first systematic treatise on physiognomy to survive to the present day is a slim volume Physiognomica (English: Physiognomics), ascribed to Aristotle, but probably of his "school" rather than by the philosopher himself. It is divided into two parts, conjectured to have been originally two separate works. The first section passes over arguments drawn from nature or other races, and concentrates on human behavior. The second section focuses on animal behavior, dividing the animal kingdom into male and female types. From these are deduced correspondences between human form and character.

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After Aristotle, the major extant works are:

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• Polemo of Laodicea, de Physiognomonia (2c. A.D.), in Greek
• Adamantius the Sophist, Physiognomonica (4c. A.D.), in Greek
• An anonymous Latin author de Phsiognomonia (ca. 4c. A.D.)