Why were Cesare Lombroso's ideas accepted in his time?

Answer 1

Cesare Lombroso's ideas were accepted in the late nineteenth century for a number of reasons. 1. There were a number of different growing ideologies at the time, so the people of Europe were not necessarily shocked by his new theories, least of all in Italy. 2. The Positivist School of Thought: This was a big one, as Positivism and Atheism were growing trends in the late 19th century. Positivism is the idea that anything can be proved or supported empirically. It does not particularly claim that God does not exist, but it questions the legitimacy or "pointlessness" of God. People, in a time in which science was growing ever so popular, found comfort in the fact that anything could be proved empirically, and that there were no metaphysical mysteries which could be solved, so to speak. Lombroso himself used positivism as a basis for his arguements when defining the anomalies or biological traits in criminals. 2. Intellects in his time were like celebrities in our time. Revolutionary ideas sparked interest. Not everyone necessarily accepted his ideas, however they were very popular in that they striked debate, and some of his theories were picked apart and modified slightly to make the legal systems in many countries more efficient, but sensible and a tad less radical. 3. He picked and chose many different aspects of many different theologies to suit his own theory. Using all these bits and pieces of popular idiologies, Lombroso was able to convince his audience of his legitimacy as a criminal anthropologist. He is in fact considered "the father of criminal anthropology"by many. 4. More radical politicians loved his work when it came down to the Eugenics Movement. Adolf Hitler himself disregarded the fact that Lombroso was Jewish, and used his methodologies in many of the concentration camps during the Holocaust.