The idea of ageing: an historical and psychological analysis

Abstract

The idea of ageing can be traced back to the earliest written records. Prescientific beliefs were governed by animistic forms of thought leading to attempts to control ageing, disease and death through magic and supernatural agencies. The idea of ageing was gradually elaborated in Greek and Roman medicine and incorporated into religious beliefs and social practices. Ideas from the classical period were revived during the Renaissance, but modern scientific approaches to ageing did not emerge clearly until the 17th century, with systematic medical and statistical inquiries into the causes of death, and later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, into the biological mechanisms of ageing. The idea of an 'elixir of life' has been all but totally abandoned, although increases in the average length of life are expected to continue for some time. Refinements in the idea take account of the social and behavioural aspects of ageing.