CRI205H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Pessimism, Eugenics, Craniometry
26 Jan 2017
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Premodern/religious explanation of crime in reference of supernatural forces. Pessimism literature in the 19th century thought the western society was going to hell; thought it was going through a period of degeneration due to a rise in criminality and industrial cities. Positivism: no supernatural explanations are permeant (ex. movements of planets are in reference to gravity not god, method used natural science understanding the forces of nature including human society. If people are born criminal the notion of free will becomes very questionable and problematic. Major question in the social sciences: (3) physical traits, (4) identify criminals. *the extension of nature is human society; nature doesn"t accommodate free will. This idea was not really new, some of his ideas were just revived from older theories. The source of human behavior is the human brain because the human brain is composed of certain 7 factors: domestic, animal, aspiring, moral, self-perfecting, reflective, perceptiveness.
