ORTOGENESIS. – The term originated with Th. Eimer (1897) as a naturalistic doctrine: the evolution of animal groups according to predetermined directions already inherent in the organism during embryonic development. Pende’s modern o., on the other hand, following the more comprehensive constitutionalist concept and harmonizing it with endocrine doctrine, is not merely a unified clinical-biological conception, but seeks to bring about a regular and harmonious physical, functional, and spiritual development of man.
O. has close relations with eugenics and constitutionalism, of which it may be regarded as a direct outgrowth; whereas genetics (and the eugenics that originated from it) is principally concerned with the genetic problem and the hereditary factors of the species, o. is applied to the problems of prenatal life, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and youth, up to the complete development of the person. There is also a conceptional o., which borders on and, to a certain extent, merges with eugenics.
With regard to constitutionalism as well, it should be observed that the latter captures the static imprint of a subject at a given moment, whereas o. 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 (v. BIOTIPPOLOGY; LIFE). Furthermore, as an integral biotypological study, in Pende’s conception o. is concerned with functional and psychological investigation (intelligence, inclinations, and character) at the various moments of development and at the various ages.
O. is a science born with practical aims; it seeks to correct abnormal patterns of development (through endocrinotherapy, physical education, and psychology), intervening in young people, particularly at that crucial point of development which is puberty (v. ADOLESCENCE). Until a few years ago, however, this period was almost unexplored, because biological-medical studies passed, almost in a single leap, from the child to the adult, forgetting that the psychophysical unity of man is perfected precisely during puberty, from the ages of 13 to 18.