The integration of the ‘experimental method’ into the field of psychology in nineteenth-century France was fostered by the work of Théodule Ribot and his attempt to found a scientific, non-metaphysical psychology. In this respect, the birth of French scientific psychology seems to amount to a rejection of the longstanding paradigms in French spiritualism. Ribot was vocally opposed to spiritualism, and was concerned to ground psychology in the natural sciences. However, this article brings to light common ground underlying, and interactions between, his work and that of the French spiritualists. In so doing, the aim is not only to investigate some little known sources of Ribot’s thought, but also to foster reconsideration of spiritualism as a philosophical doctrine. Through the comparison with Ribot, spiritualism appears as a composite doctrine, able to promote crucial epistemological revolutions (such as the birth of scientific psychology) and to relate metaphysical assumptions to empirical and experimental observations.

Vincenti, D. (2020). Théodule Ribot and the spiritualist tradition: the philosophical roots of scientific psychology. BRITISH JOURNAL FOR THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, 28(5), 1009-1030 [10.1080/09608788.2020.1748566].

Théodule Ribot and the spiritualist tradition: the philosophical roots of scientific psychology

Vincenti, D
2020

Abstract

The integration of the ‘experimental method’ into the field of psychology in nineteenth-century France was fostered by the work of Théodule Ribot and his attempt to found a scientific, non-metaphysical psychology. In this respect, the birth of French scientific psychology seems to amount to a rejection of the longstanding paradigms in French spiritualism. Ribot was vocally opposed to spiritualism, and was concerned to ground psychology in the natural sciences. However, this article brings to light common ground underlying, and interactions between, his work and that of the French spiritualists. In so doing, the aim is not only to investigate some little known sources of Ribot’s thought, but also to foster reconsideration of spiritualism as a philosophical doctrine. Through the comparison with Ribot, spiritualism appears as a composite doctrine, able to promote crucial epistemological revolutions (such as the birth of scientific psychology) and to relate metaphysical assumptions to empirical and experimental observations.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Théodule Ribot; Scientific psychology; French Spiritualism; Experimentalism;
English
27-apr-2020
2020
28
5
1009
1030
none
Vincenti, D. (2020). Théodule Ribot and the spiritualist tradition: the philosophical roots of scientific psychology. BRITISH JOURNAL FOR THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, 28(5), 1009-1030 [10.1080/09608788.2020.1748566].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/315317
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