ABSTRACT
I have argued in this book that developmental psychology is built on foundations which are rotten. Not only its more classic formulations, but also most of its present-day versions, adhere to outdated notions of a biological-philosophical nature. There are some alternative proposals which may yet transform this situation, but whether the discipline would be recognisable after any such transformation is hard to predict. It may be that the discipline is constituted by the appeal to evolutionist logic and the related doctrines, and could have no independent existence. If so, developmental psychology might be seen as a mere hangover from the late 19th century: A blind alley in the onward progress of the social and life sciences.
