FACTS AND FACTORS OF DEVELOPMENT 21 



FACTS AND FACTORS OF DEVELOPMENT 



By Peofessoe EDWIN GRANT CONKLIN 



PEINCETON UNIVEESirr 



II. Development of the Mind 



THE development of the mind parallels that of the body : whatever 

 the ultimate relations of the mind and body may be, there can 

 be no reasonable doubt that the two develop together from the germ. 

 It is a curious fact that many people who are seriously disturbed by 

 scientific teachings as to the evolution, or gradual development of the 

 human race, accept with equanimity the universal observation as to 

 the development of the human individual, — mind as well as body. The 

 animal ancestry of the race is surely no more disturbing to philosophical 

 and religious beliefs than the germinal origin of the individual, and yet 

 the latter is a fact of universal observation which can not be relegated 

 to the domain of hypothesis or theory, and which can not be successfully 

 denied. If we admit the fact of the development of the entire individ- 

 ual, surely it matters little to our philosophical or religious beliefs to 

 admit the development or evolution of the race. 



The origin of the mind, or rather of the soul, is a topic upon which 

 there has been much speculation by philosophers and theologians. One 

 of the earliest hypotheses was that which is known as transmigration or 

 metempsychosis. This doctrine probably reached its greatest develop- 

 ment in ancient India, where it formed an important part of Buddhistic 

 belief; it was also a part of the religion of ancient Egypt; it was 

 embodied in the philosophies of Pythagoras and Plato. According to 

 these teachings, the number of souls is a constant one ; souls are neither 

 made nor destroyed, but at birth a soul which had once tenanted another 

 body enters into the new body. This doctrine was generally repudiated 

 by the Fathers of the Christian Church. Jerome and others adopted the 

 view that God creates a new soul for each body that is generated, and 

 that every soul is thus a special divine creation. This has become the 

 prevailing view of the Christian Church and is known as creationism, 

 On the other hand Tertullian taught that souls of children are generated 

 from the souls of parents as bodies are from bodies. This doctrine, 

 which is known as traducianism, has been defended by certain modern 

 theologians, but has been formally condemned by the Eoman Catholic 

 Church. 



Traducianism undoubtedly comes nearer the scientific teachings as to 

 the development of the mind than does either of the other doctrines 

 named, but it is based upon the prevalent but erroneous belief that the 



