Théodule-Armand Ribot
Encyclopedia
Théodule-Armand Ribot French
psychologist
, was born at Guingamp
, and was educated at the Lycée de St Brieuc.
In 1856 he began to teach, and was admitted to the École Normale Supérieure
in 1862. In 1885 he gave a course of lectures on Experimental Psychology
at the Sorbonne
, and in 1888 was appointed professor of that subject at the College of France. His thesis for his doctors' degree, republished in 1882, Hérédité: étude psychologique (5th ed., 1889), was his most important and best known book.
Following the experimental and synthetic methods, he brought together a large number of instances of inherited peculiarities. He paid particular attention to the physical element of mental life, ignoring all spiritual or nonmaterial factors in man. In his work on La Psychologie anglaise contemporaine: l'école expérimentale (1870), he showed his sympathy with the sensationalist school, and again in his translation of Herbert Spencer
's Principles of Psychology.
Besides numerous articles, he wrote on Arthur Schopenhauer
, Philosophie de Schopenhauer (1874; 7th ed., 1896), and on the contemporary psychology of Germany (La Psychologie allemande contemporaine, 1879; 13th ed., 1898), also four little monographs on Les Maladies de la mémoire (1881; x3th ed., 1898); De la volonté (1883; 14th ed., 1899); De la personnalité (1885; 8th ed., 1899); and La Psychologie de l'attention (1888), which supplied useful data to the study of mental illness
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, was born at Guingamp
Guingamp
Guingamp is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Guingamp are called guingampais.-Breton language:...
, and was educated at the Lycée de St Brieuc.
In 1856 he began to teach, and was admitted to the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
in 1862. In 1885 he gave a course of lectures on Experimental Psychology
Experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, and in 1888 was appointed professor of that subject at the College of France. His thesis for his doctors' degree, republished in 1882, Hérédité: étude psychologique (5th ed., 1889), was his most important and best known book.
Following the experimental and synthetic methods, he brought together a large number of instances of inherited peculiarities. He paid particular attention to the physical element of mental life, ignoring all spiritual or nonmaterial factors in man. In his work on La Psychologie anglaise contemporaine: l'école expérimentale (1870), he showed his sympathy with the sensationalist school, and again in his translation of Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
's Principles of Psychology.
Besides numerous articles, he wrote on Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
, Philosophie de Schopenhauer (1874; 7th ed., 1896), and on the contemporary psychology of Germany (La Psychologie allemande contemporaine, 1879; 13th ed., 1898), also four little monographs on Les Maladies de la mémoire (1881; x3th ed., 1898); De la volonté (1883; 14th ed., 1899); De la personnalité (1885; 8th ed., 1899); and La Psychologie de l'attention (1888), which supplied useful data to the study of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
.
Works
- La Psychologie anglaise contemporaine: l'école expérimentale (1870)
- La Psychologie des sentiments (1896)
- L'Evolution des idées genérales (1897)
- Essai sur l'imagination créatrice (1900)
- La Logique des sentiments (1904)
- Essai sur les passions (1906)
English editions
- English Psychology (1873)
- Heredity: a Psychological Study of its Phenomena, Laws, Causes, and Consequences (1875)
- Diseases of Memory: An Essay in the Positive Psychology (1882)
- Diseases of the Will (New York, 1884) , (tr. MM Snell, Open Court Publishing, Chicago 1894; 3rd ed., 1903)
- German Psychology of to-day, tr. JM Baldwin (New York, 1886)
- The Psychology of Attention (Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago, 1890)
- Diseases of Personality (Chicago, 1895)
- The Psychology of the Emotions (1897)
- The Evolution of General Ideas, tr. FA Welby (Chicago, 1899)
- Essay on the Creative Imagination, tr. AHN Baron (1906).