ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE AT FRENCH UNIVERSITIES (1870-1900) - INTELLECTUAL ISSUES, THE POLITICAL CONTEXT NETWORKS AND STRATEGIES OF ALLIANCE CENTERING AROUND RIBOT,THEODORE REVUE-PHILOSOPHIQUE

The university study of psychology originated in France in the 1880s. The first practitioners conceived of it as psychophysiology, a natural science, as opposed to an aspect of spiritual philosophy, which neede d to be understood In a specific political context. This paper analyse s this seminal period through the militant activity of its main archit ect, Theodule Ribot (1839-1916). It particularly questions the orienta tions of the Revue philosophique, founded in 1876, which proved a rall y-point for the young philosophers and physicians who derived from Rib ot their alliance strategy within the medical milieu. The inquiry is c ontinued to the turn of the century, when psychology became firmly ins titutionalized.