William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind
William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind explores the historical origins and ideological valence of the conceptualisation of thought and mind as functions of the brain in early nineteenth-century Britain. Taking as its starting point the controversy provoked by Lawrence’s Lectures on Physiology,...
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| Format: | Online |
| Sprog: | engelsk |
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UCL Press
2025
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| Online adgang: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98620 |
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| _version_ | 1869516628536852480 |
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| author | Price, Elfed Huw |
| author_browse | Price, Elfed Huw |
| author_facet | Price, Elfed Huw |
| author_sort | Price, Elfed Huw |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind explores the historical origins and ideological valence of the conceptualisation of thought and mind as functions of the brain in early nineteenth-century Britain.
Taking as its starting point the controversy provoked by Lawrence’s Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, the book draws on archival and published texts, as well as images, to reveal overlooked parallels and connections with the concurrent rise of phrenology and the longstanding Christian mortalist tradition. It shows how the sentient brain served as a radical icon, marking a break with ancient Galenic medical models and Athanasian religious dogma, and charts how – in part through Lawrence’s contributions – it was united with a biological vision that identified human exceptionality more directly with the structure and function of our brains.
Elfed Huw Price’s work indicates that, although Lawrence was silenced, his Lectures lived on, a contributor to the rising tide of Victorian naturalism, and part of a wider transformation of beliefs and values that swept aside the ancient politico-religious structures of the Confessional State, leaving the cerebral organ standing alongside the soul as the source of human reason and a distinguishing feature of humanity. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-152144 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | UCL Press |
| publisherStr | UCL Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1521442025-07-30T08:59:53Z William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind Price, Elfed Huw history of science;Britain;neuroscience;philosophy;immortality;mind;William Lawrence;brain;phrenology;materialism;vitalism;mortalism;consciousness;theology;medicine;Victorian naturalism;Christian mortalist tradition;Lawrences Lectures;thought;ideological valence;historical origins thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind explores the historical origins and ideological valence of the conceptualisation of thought and mind as functions of the brain in early nineteenth-century Britain. Taking as its starting point the controversy provoked by Lawrence’s Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, the book draws on archival and published texts, as well as images, to reveal overlooked parallels and connections with the concurrent rise of phrenology and the longstanding Christian mortalist tradition. It shows how the sentient brain served as a radical icon, marking a break with ancient Galenic medical models and Athanasian religious dogma, and charts how – in part through Lawrence’s contributions – it was united with a biological vision that identified human exceptionality more directly with the structure and function of our brains. Elfed Huw Price’s work indicates that, although Lawrence was silenced, his Lectures lived on, a contributor to the rising tide of Victorian naturalism, and part of a wider transformation of beliefs and values that swept aside the ancient politico-religious structures of the Confessional State, leaving the cerebral organ standing alongside the soul as the source of human reason and a distinguishing feature of humanity. 2025-02-17T06:50:51Z 2025-02-17T06:50:51Z 2025-02-13T13:28:59Z 2025 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98620 9781787357907 9781787357914 9781787357921 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/152144 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/98620/1/9781787357891.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/98620/1/9781787357891.pdf UCL Press 10.14324/111.9781787357891 10.14324/111.9781787357891 29b9f0a3-1b0d-4bdd-99d7-b4d3432d7fcc 9781787357907 9781787357914 9781787357921 242 London open access |
| spellingShingle | history of science;Britain;neuroscience;philosophy;immortality;mind;William Lawrence;brain;phrenology;materialism;vitalism;mortalism;consciousness;theology;medicine;Victorian naturalism;Christian mortalist tradition;Lawrences Lectures;thought;ideological valence;historical origins thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History Price, Elfed Huw William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind |
| title | William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind |
| title_full | William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind |
| title_fullStr | William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind |
| title_full_unstemmed | William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind |
| title_short | William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind |
| title_sort | william lawrence and the organ of mind |
| topic | history of science;Britain;neuroscience;philosophy;immortality;mind;William Lawrence;brain;phrenology;materialism;vitalism;mortalism;consciousness;theology;medicine;Victorian naturalism;Christian mortalist tradition;Lawrences Lectures;thought;ideological valence;historical origins thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History |
| topic_facet | history of science;Britain;neuroscience;philosophy;immortality;mind;William Lawrence;brain;phrenology;materialism;vitalism;mortalism;consciousness;theology;medicine;Victorian naturalism;Christian mortalist tradition;Lawrences Lectures;thought;ideological valence;historical origins thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98620 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT priceelfedhuw williamlawrenceandtheorganofmind |