The Skull as Mediator between Object and Subject: Gall’s Phrenology and Goethe’s Scientific Method

The article considers Goethe’s engagement with the doctrines of Franz Joseph Gall, the founder of phrenology. Using the sketch of their first face-to-face meeting in the Tag- und Jahreshefte of 1805 as a guide, it argues that Goethe views phrenology through the lens of his scientific methodology and reshapes it accordingly, when needed. In particular, he seeks to render Gall’s account of the skull as the brain’s imprint into a phenomenon worthy of extensive observation and description but still open to interpretation. Moreover, Goethe immediately relates Gall’s anatomical structuring of the brain to the concept of metamorphosis, thus paving the way to integrating organology into his morphology. On occasion, Goethe also succumbs to the allure of the skull craniology has created, such as when he agrees to give material self-evidence in the form of a face mask.