THE RENAISSANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY 



times, with the advancement of learning. There is an 

 evolutionary psychology in sequence of development. The 

 spiritistic and the moralistic trends dominate in primitive 

 psychology. Man formulated his "soul" in those terms. 

 His purpose was to appease the gods and control his own 

 fate. His psychology was shaped in the image of his desires. 



As learning became established, the doctrines became 

 academic and solutions traditional. Authority and con- 

 sensus established what was held to be the truth and ever 

 in fair conformity to religious, moral, or social codes 

 supported by established authority. Because of the lack of 

 knowledge of nature's ways, a pretentious and assertive 

 pseudo-science flourished, mingling with folklore beliefs. 

 Parallel to the progression from alchemy to chemistry, 

 from astrology to astronomy, is a similar growth from a 

 primitive, a religious, and an academic psychology to a 

 body of doctrine that is conceived in the spirit of natural 

 science and proved by way of experiment. 



The conclusion to be drawn from the renaissance and its 

 antecedents is that issues once regarded as lying outside 

 the realm of the methods of science may be pursued in the 

 same temper and logic as have brought about the great 

 advances in the physical sciences and the control of natural 

 resources. This does not mean that psychology will be 

 reducible to physics or physiology; its distinctive province 

 remains and will ever require adaptation of technique to 

 the conditions under which the phenomena occur. But 

 it has become possible to focus psychological findings upon 

 the conduct of human affairs, to recognize the voice of 

 psychology in many concerns formerly decided by the 

 guidance of religious precept or legal enactment, and above 

 all to naturalize psychology in the federation of the 

 sciences. Upon the wise application of the principles thus 

 emerging depends in no small measure the direction of 

 future progress. 



[93] 



