Friday 11 April 2008

Physiognomy

Physiognomy (Gk. physis, nature and gnomon, judge, interpreter) is a theory based upon the idea that the assessment of the person's outer appearance, primarily the face, may give insights into one's character or personality. The term physiognomy can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object or terrain, without reference to its implied or scientific characteristics.

[i attended the mogul painting lecture in Dar Al-Athar and it was so wonderful -i must say it is one of the greatest from this season-, the lecturer was Goswami's student who is one of the great readers of Indian Paintings whom i attended a really interesting workshop with him and some of the cultural center friends. in the formerly mentioned lecture, she showed us a couple of portraits in which she referred to this field of knowledge to describe. i never heard of it and i was interested! this is its definition i'm very willing to know more about it]

3 comments:

The Simper said...

is it not the same as "علم الفراسة"?

Deema said...

well i can call علم الفراسة discernment, but i think you may possibly need it for understanding a person's character but in an internal intuitive manner which doesn't allow physics to enter the judgment matter.
yet the essence of this field of knowledge is to set reason in understanding the topography of a humans face to reveal character other than discernment. besides discernment doesn't necessarily used to detect and judge a character.

*Discernment: perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual direction and understanding

Deema said...

the simper,
i've been told that it is the same, but still i believe physiognomy is a chapter rather the full meaning to ilfirasa.