The term physiognomy has two components: the physis, which is equivalent to nature, and the gnomon, which means to discern. In relation to the meaning of the term, there are two possible acceptances: is the aspect that presents the face of a person or the outward appearance of something.
face language
Human beings communicate with words, gestures and with their face, since facial features and expression convey information about who we are. In fact, there are experts in this field who argue that it is possible to describe a person’s personality through their facial features. In this sense, wider faces indicate a capacity for sacrifice, a smile is related to hormone levels, asymmetrical faces indicate a level of depression and large eyes are associated with kindness.
Those who know the language of the face say that there are many aspects that speak to oneself: the skin tone, the direction of the eyebrows, the look, the nose, the lips and the mouth. Thus, thin lips indicate self-possession, the upturned nose expresses vanity, and bushy eyebrows are characteristic of vital and impulsive people.
From a historical point of view, the relationship between the face and personality is an issue addressed by the ancient Greeks, who analyzed the body signs and the face to understand the human soul. The discipline that studies facial features is physiognomy, a knowledge that sparked interest in painting, among writers and in the world of psychology (in the 19th century, Phrenology was a discipline that studied the criminal tendencies of individuals based on the characteristics of their peers. faces).
the outward appearance of something
Everything around us has an appearance and therefore a physiognomy. In other words, everything has a form and a background. In relation to the human face, shape conveys information about one’s personality and character, that is, one’s background. Likewise, that which has a human dimension can be understood with the form-ground distinction.
To illustrate this idea, we can think of a personal problem, of which it has a physiognomy (the outward appearance of the problem) and, at the same time, its part deepens the background, that is, the implications of the problem.
