Transcriber’s Note
Cover created by Transcriberand placed into the Public Domain.
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SENESCENCE
THE LAST HALF OF LIFE
BY G. STANLEY HALL
SENESCENCE
RECREATIONS OF A PSYCHOLOGIST
MORALE
ADOLESCENCE
YOUTH
EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS
FOUNDERS OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
ASPECTS OF CHILD LIFE AND EDUCATION
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Publishers New York
SENESCENCE
THE LAST HALF OF LIFE
BY
G. STANLEY HALL, Ph.D., LL.D.
Author of “Adolescence,” “Educational Problems,” “Founders
of Modern Psychology,” “Morale,” “Recreations
of a Psychologist,” etc.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK :: MCMXXII :: LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v
FOREWORD
In this book I have tried to present the subjects of OldAge and Death from as many viewpoints as possible inorder to show how the ignorant and the learned, thechild, the adult, and the old, savage and civilized man,pagans and Christians, the ancient and the modernworld, the representatives of various sciences, and differentindividuals have viewed these problems, lettingeach class, so far as I could, speak for itself. This partof the task has been long and arduous and my conspectusis not entirely encyclopedic, as it set out to be. I havealso tried to develop an idea of death, and especially ofold age, which I believe to be, if not essentially new, moretrue to the facts of life and mind than those now current,and which I think much needed by the world justnow. Despite the great and growing interest that hasimpelled this study, its themes have proved increasinglydepressing, so that its conclusion brings a unique reliefthat I may now turn to more cheerful occupations, althoughit would be craven to plead this as an extenuationof the shortcomings of which I am increasinglyconscious. If I have at certain points drawn too franklyupon my own personal experiences with age I realizethat this does not compensate for my limitations in someof the special fields I ventured to enter. I have had inmind throughout chiefly the nature and needs of intelligentpeople passing or past middle life quite as much asof those actually entering old age. It is hoped that thedata here garnered and the views propounded may helpto a better and more correct understanding of the natureand functions of old age, and also be a psychologist’svicontribution to the long-desired but long-delayedscience of gerontology.
It is a pleasant duty to express my personal obligationsto the Library o