ABSTRACT

For many centuries man’s naïveté in discussing personal problems from the outlook most gratifying to his own pride led to the creation of an imaginary world, inhabited only by people at the prime of their activities, possessing an unusual degree of emotional stability and considerable intellectual development; and as a result of this restricted point of view an exceedingly limited period in the entire span of life became the centre of interest. Philosophers attempted to explain human conduct as part of a scheme which did not take into account the activities of individuals rendered defective either by disease or imperfect development, and failed to link the growing activities of infant and child with those of the adult. Systems of law, ethics, religion, and education were deliberately planned with reference only to the needs of the relatively few persons who were capable of attaining a high degree of intellectual activity and volitional control.