The "eternal return" of psychological essentialism: "Clues" to character

Abstract

The history of psychology is full of essentialist conceptions about human behavior, built from notions such as temperament, physiognomy, character and personality (representing ontologized and naturalized constructs). In this motley mosaic, craniology (a specific form of yet acclaimed "cerebralism") was one of the explanatory and predictive larger projects during the nineteenth century. It embraced materialistic, deterministic and individualistic assumptions and validated a dense linear view of behavior. Its conceptual framework was based on "clues" as central pivot for research, detection, interpretation and anticipation of human reactions. Even though it occupied a marginal place in the official history of scientific psychology, craniology satisfied epistemic functions but also cultural needs within the niche of beliefs, practices and values where it flourished. This position problematizes the impoverishing cut that results from narrating the disciplinary past from a perspective that minimizes, simplifies or ignores the "pseudoscience".

Key words: essentialism, behavior, craniology , clue, individualism.