ORTOGENESIS. — The term was coined by Th. Eimer (1897) as a naturalistic doctrine: the evolution of animal groups along predetermined directions, already present in the organism during embryonic development. Modern orthogenesis, as developed by Pende, instead, follows a more comprehensive constitutionalist concept, harmonized with endocrinological doctrine. It is not merely a unitary clinical-biological conception but aims to achieve a regular and harmonious development—physical, functional, and spiritual—of the human being.
Orthogenesis has close ties with eugenetics and constitutionalism, of which it may be considered a direct outgrowth. While genetics (and eugenetics, which derives from it) primarily concerns itself with the genetic problem and the hereditary factors of the species, orthogenesis applies to the problems of prenatal life, infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, and the full development of the person. There is also a conceptional orthogenesis that borders on and, to a certain extent, overlaps with eugenetics.
With regard to constitutionalism, it must be noted that this field captures the static imprint of a subject at a given moment, whereas orthogenesis follows the constitutional development of the person through those modifications of growth and somatic differentiation governed by the now well-established laws of Viola, Godin, and Pende (see BIOTIPOLOGY; ETÀ DELLA VITA). Furthermore, as a comprehensive biopathological study in Pende’s conception, orthogenesis concerns itself with functional inquiry and psychological investigation (intelligence, inclinations, and character) at various stages of development and at different ages.
Orthogenesis is a science born with practical aims; it seeks to correct abnormal developmental patterns (through endocrinotherapy, physical education, and psychology), intervening particularly in youth, especially at the critical stage of puberty (see ADOLESCENZA). Until a few years ago, this period was almost unexplored, as biological and medical studies leapt almost abruptly from childhood to adulthood, overlooking the fact that the psycho-physical unity of the human being is perfected precisely during puberty, from ages 13 to 18.