Aristotle's Logical Foundation of Physiognomics
ABSTRACT: Whenever we meet an unknown person, our first judgment, even unwillingly and often subconsciously, starts from his or her external appearance. Since character can be properly recognized only from words and deeds observed over some time, at first sight we have to rely on what we immediately can see. This physiognomical first approach to each other is as old as humankind, and, though it has never been able to be proved a proper science, in everyday life we all believe in and use physioculture. The earliest extant written work on the subject is the pseudo-Aristotelian treatise Physiognomonica. The author of its first part, in discussing the methodology of the art, refers to Aristotle, who develops the logical foundation of physiognomical inference: as an enthymeme, a syllogism from signs. Yet, concentrating solely on the formal logical analysis, Aristotle does not touch the central point of physiognomics; it C. S. Peirce’s discovery of the triadic relation of the sign that was able to shed new light on this central problem and to see physiognomics as a process of semiosis. Thus, Aristotle founded the formal logical basis, from which modern semiotics developed new approaches to physiognomics, taking them in account in several strands of their research.
Whenever we meet an unknown person, our first judgement – unwillingly and often subconsciously – starts from his or her external appearance. Almost every aspect of it can be regarded as some kind of clue: for instance, clothing and hairstyle tell something about social status and personal fashion, facial expression and gestures indicate the emotional state of mind, and clinical symptoms allow to diagnose a disease. Yet all those features are superficial and changeable, and therefore don’t tell anything about the inner nature and character of a person, by which we define personality and identity. Since character shows itself only in words and deeds, it would need a long-term observation to detect it (always unrealistically assuming that the character be constant), and still there is hardly a safeguard against wilful deceit. Here, as a short-cut method, physiognomics is used: the art of inferring character from the physique of body and face – especially from those features that can hardly be influenced by their bearer like bone-structure, stature, voice, and the supposedly unconscious parts of body language.
An immediate physiognomical inference is necessary for survival in the animal world: to decide at first glance whether the other is prey or predator, friend or foe, that is: whether it is save to stay and to approach or better to flee, to defend or attack.
The Tell, by Matthew Hertenstein, is about the power of prediction based on observations of brief samples of others’ behavior. Throughout this book, Hertenstein teaches what tells in early life predict autism, how photographs betray others’ personality and aggressive inclinations, how smiling predicts marital stability, how micro-expressions signal deception, how facial structure predicts companies’ profits, and who wins political elections. In the following few pages, there will be many clues on what tells can predict certain things for the future (Hertenstein, ix).
ABSTRACT: Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to an empirical-verifiability criterion of mental or linguistic meaning. The acceptance of this criterion confronted them with the same problem: how to understand the Other as a subject with his own experience, if the existence and nature of the Other's experiences cannot be verified. Husserl tackled this problem in the Cartesian Meditations, but he could not reconcile the verifiability criterion with understanding the Other's feelings and sensations. Carnap's solution was to embrace behaviorism and eliminate the idea of private sensations, but behaviorism has well-known difficulties. Heidegger broke this impasse by suggesting that each person's being included being-with, an innate capacity for understanding the Other. To be human is to be "hard-wired" to make sense of the Other without having to verify the Other's private sensations. I suggest that being-with emerged from an evolutionary imperative for conspecific animals to recognize each other and to coordinate their activities. Wittgenstein also rejected the verifiability criterion. He theorized that the meaning of a term is its usage and that terms about private sensations were meaningful because they have functions in our language-games. For example, "I'm in pain," like a cry of pain, functions to get the attention of others and motivate others to help. Wittgenstein's theory shows how Dasein's being-with includes "primitive" adaptive behavior such as cries, smiles, and threatening or playful gesture. As Dasein is acculturated, these behaviors are partially superseded by functionally equivalent linguistic expressions.
First impressions are usually lasting impressions. Within the first thirty seconds, without any conscious effort, an image or opinion is formed influenced by cues perceived by our sensory organs. Though sometimes misleading, first impressions can be an accurate representation of a person, and once formed very difficult to change. Ability to assess at such a rate exhibits the involvement of the senses working together and the complexity each one may contribute. The role of Olfaction is studied (Sorokowska, 2013) in relation to accurately identifying first impression personality traits based solely on body odor.
...t of Biological Sciences with the University of Alberta. He has studied polar bears in the Canadian Arctic for over 40 years. His studies have linked the loss of sea ice due to climate change to the decline of the polar bear population.
This is a pseudoscience which assesses character and morality from outer appearance, applying the practice of “judging a book by its cover” to the human form. However, one could argue that facial expressions and gestures, as well as race and gender, are socially and culturally learned and not necessarily a reflection on the person’s inner self. The theories of Physiognomy have been discredited and this is one of the reasons why numerous contemporary photographers criticize the conventional portrait and dismiss the belief that the portrait can claim to reveal or capture the inner being, the soul; which they instead categorise as myth. They also refuse the idea that a portrait is believed to be believable and adequate complete resemblance, of the individual being photographed. (Ewing, 2004,
Kristol’s article writes that pornography and the pornographic industry has always been dominated by men (491). Throughout the history of the United States, men have taken precedence over women in many aspects. Men were considered the workers of the family while women stayed home and acted as housewives or catered to the men. The idea of feminism and women’s equality, however, is growing throughout the nation. With feminism and women’s equality at large, society must progress toward eliminating male domination and allowing the extension for women's opportunities; therefore, pornography and the male-dominated industry should be limited by the government. Aside from men and the power statuses they hold in pornography, Gail Dines in her article “Facts and Figures” discloses information about the male tendencies after watching pornography. Men have been reported to support female rape, have aggressive behavior toward women, have a decreased sex drive toward wives or girlfriends, and desire forced sexual acts after viewing pornography (1). Despite America’s best effort to protect all citizens, in reality, females are typically victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and pornography is a cause of such violence. Although it is a key factor that plays a role in causing violence and aggressive behavior toward women, Americans are able to easily access videos or films instantly because of modern technology and the lack of pornography censoring. Because of the tendency to cause abuse in the real world, pornography must be censored in order to ensure that women are granted equal amounts of safety and
Pornography is considered by many to be an unwelcome and distasteful part of our society. However, I argue that it is necessary to voice the unpopular viewpoints, under the Constitution. This paper is a defense of pornography as a constitutional right of free expression, under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. In illustrating this argument, I will first define pornography as a concept, and then address central arguments in favor of pornography remaining legal and relatively unregulated – such as the development of the pornography debate throughout modern US law, and how activist groups address the censorship of adult entertainment.
That example that was given to us was in a mall setting a local comedian Jay Peter was dressed in a suit and tie along with a camera man shooting footage to make the skit look more realistic. He and the camera man walked around approaching random people at the mall giving them nonrealistic facts, they seemed to believe what he was saying just by the way he was dressed. Another study showed that 70% of the time we can pick a candidate based on their looks, facial structure has a big contribution to our
Welles was noted for producing many films that fit in several musical styles; however, dramatic event, mystery/crime, love story, and film noir were his main writing styles. His radio program called The Orson Welles Show aired poetry, history, dramatic adaptations, music, comedy, and a commentary segment.
MacKinnon, Catharine. "Pornography: On Morality and Politics." Philosophical Problems in the Law. . Reprint. Boston: Clark Baxter, 2013. Print.
Characterization of a human being has always two sides: the first one concerns one´s appearance, the other deals with one´s inner qualities. However, there is a slight difference in describing of a female and a male personality: outer characteristic is much more detailed when describing a female. But it is necessary to cover with both these issues when discussing the personality of a female.
...created a monster that not only terrorized the people of Europe, but also himself, killing most of his loved ones. Sadly, in the end, the common people were effected. They became enslaved by the machines, the wealthy, and factories. Similarly, the people became trapped by the hideousness and audacity that monster brought over the continent. Thankfully, not all connection to tradition was lost for people stood up against their enemies and fought for what was right. Likewise, Dr. Frankenstein and the people forced the monster to leave and meet his end, finishing his reign of terror. The people began free, were enslaved, and in the end, brought order and balance back to their lives.
The first theory used to analyze this magazine is the semiotic theory, developed by C.S. Peirce. This theory is used to find the meaning of signs and claims it is all in the meaning of the signs used. “A sign refers to something other than itself – the object, and is understood by somebody.
Levinas asserts that the relation to the face is one that is dominated by perception and thus demonstrates the conception of what a person is rather than who a person is, this fundamental ideology stems from an identity logic to the social world. The question of etymologically with regard to the specific hinge word of perception, from the Latin word perceptionem, is the receiving or collection of; and hence in the sense of an identity logic and the associated assumption of chronological time, perception is the expectation of receiving or collecting the individual as what they are aesthetically and physically for example, the nature of a binary logic between male and female. There is a sense of impatience and a desire to identify an individual through categories of traditional attributes that distance and detach each individual from each other, such as what their eye colour is, who else has this eye colour, and whether we can then say that he or she looks like him or her. This expectation of association creates a defined being, one which focuses upon the individual identity a...