Johann Kaspar Lavater Criticism
- Principal Works
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Introduction
(summary)
Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) was a pivotal Swiss nonfiction writer and minister, renowned for revitalizing the eighteenth-century fascination with physiognomy, a pseudo-scientific discipline that claims to assess an individual's character based on their physical appearance. As observed by Lavater's Physiognomy in England, his influence on European thought, especially during the Age of Sensibility, was profound. Lavater's theories aligned with the era's quest for understanding human nature through observable traits, although his work also faced significant criticism and ridicule.
Lavater's most significant work, Physiognomischen Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe, attempted to establish a systematic methodology for linking facial features with moral and psychological traits. This work was extensively translated and widely read, marking Lavater as a leading intellectual. Yet, his methods were critiqued for their lack of empirical rigor, as noted by critics such as Reading Character in the Face: Lavater, Socrates, and Physiognomy, who labeled his approach as "pseudo-inductive." Nevertheless, Lavater's ideas left a lasting impact on literature, influencing figures like Goethe and shaping the portrayal of character in English fiction, as discussed in Lavater and the Nineteenth-Century English Novel.
Lavater's work was not limited to physiognomy; he was also an influential religious author. His life was marked by notable friendships and controversies, including his association with Goethe and involvement in exposing political corruption. Lavater's impact transcended borders, as his ideas also resonated in Russian culture, highlighted by J. C. Lavater's Edifying and Physiognomic Ideas in Eighteenth-Century Russia.
Despite the contemporary dismissal of physiognomy, Lavater's work is appreciated for its historical significance and its influence on the literary and cultural landscape of his time. His blend of aesthetics, psychology, and theology, although scientifically questionable, was a hallmark of pre-romantic thought, as noted in Pseudo-Science, Social Fad, Literary Wonder: Johann Caspar Lavater and the Art of Physiognomy.
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Essays
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Lavater's Physiognomy in England
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In the following essay, Graham chronicles the reception and influence of Lavater's works in England.
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Introduction
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In the following introduction to a facsimile reprint of William Blake's annotated copy of Aphorisms on Man, Shroyer recounts the publication history of Lavater's work and discusses its influence on Blake.
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The Power of a Thousand Eyes: Johann Caspar Lavater's Science of Physiognomical Perception
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In the following essay, Shortland briefly summarizes the history of physiognomy, then concentrates on Lavater's approach to facial analysis as described in his Physiognomischen Fragmente.
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J. C. Lavater's Edifying and Physiognomic Ideas in Eighteenth-Century Russia
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In the following essay, Heier traces the impact of Lavater's Physiognomischen Fragmente on Russian culture.
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Reading Character in the Face: Lavater, Socrates, and Physiognomy
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In the following excerpt, Berland argues that an evaluation of Lavater's comments on images of Socrates indicates that his method of physiognomy is not empirical, but instead “pseudo-inductive.”
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Pseudo-Science, Social Fad, Literary Wonder: Johann Caspar Lavater and the Art of Physiognomy
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In the following essay, Shookman critiques the pseudo-science of physiognomy professed by Lavater, while examining its popularity, logical flaws, influence on German literature, and relationship to the visual arts.
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Lavater and the Nineteenth-Century English Novel
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In the following essay, Tytler considers the immense, if generalized, influence of Lavater's Physiognomischen Fragmente on the nineteenth-century English novel.
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Lavater and Physiognomy in English Fiction 1790-1832
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In the following essay, Tytler identifies Lavaterian principles of physiognomy in British literary portraiture of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, discussing works by Ann Radcliffe, Sir Walter Scott, and Jane Austen.
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‘The Air of a Porter’: Lichtenberg and Lavater Test Physiognomy by Looking at Johnson
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In the following essay, Berland highlights Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's criticism of Lavater's physiognomy, using the example of Samuel Johnson to elucidate contradictions and weaknesses in Lavater's theory.
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Lavater's Physiognomy in England
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- Further Reading