The Making of a New Science

The Making of A New Science: A Study of the Life and Work of the Philosopher Psychologist Théodule-Armand Ribot is the first comprehensive book in the English language dedicated to the life and work of Théodule-Armand Ribot (1839-1916). Despite his central role in the emergence of modern psychology, Ribot remains surprisingly understudied, particularly in comparison to contemporaries such as William James, Wilhelm Wundt, Pierre Janet, and Alfred Binet.

Ribot, at once philosopher and psychologist, embodied the intellectual tensions of psychology's formative period. The book serves both as a contribution to the historical reconstruction of the making of psychology as a modern science and as a systematic presentation of Ribot's psychological doctrines, many of which are translated here into English for the first time.

Against this historical background, the present monograph offers a study of Ribot's work in its full intellectual and cultural context. It examines (1) the philosophical background that shaped his thought, and (2) the medical and scientific frameworks that informed his methodology, tracing how these converged in the formation of a scientific psychology.

The book pursues the following main objectives: (1) to situate Ribot's life and work within the broader intellectual and cultural debates of late nineteenth-century France and Europe, where he played a decisive role; (2) to present and critically analyse the core ideas of his psychology; (3) to contribute to the ongoing discussion of psychology as a science, a question that remains vital for understanding the foundations and evolution of the discipline.

Despite his prominence among contemporaries, Ribot's legacy has long suffered from neglect, particularly in the Anglophone world. This book fills that gap, re-establishing Ribot as a key figure in the history of psychology and a pivotal thinker at the intersection of philosophy, physiology, and psychiatry.

First English study of Théodule-Armand Ribot, France's forgotten founder of modern psychology Explores psychology's birth through Ribot's blend of philosophy, medicine, and science Features newly translated texts and rare archival insights into Ribot's legacy

Autorentext

Professor Marco Innamorati is a historian of psychology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He obtained degrees in philosophy and psychology at the University of Rome La Sapienza and later completed a PhD in History of Science and a PsyD. He has held visiting fellowships at University College London, University of Washington, Seattle, Universität Bremen, and others. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the history of psychology and psychotherapy, published in Italian, German, Portuguese, and English. His publications include Psicoanalisi e filosofia della scienza [Psychoanalysis and Philosophy of Science] (Franco Angeli, 2000), Das erbe C.G. Jungs [The Legacy of C.G. Jung, 2008, with Mario Trevi], Jung (Carocci, 2013), Freud (Carocci, 2015), Al di là della psicoanalisi [Beyond Psychoanalysis] (Mondadori, 2020), Hans e gli altri. Dieci bambini che hanno cambiato la storia della psicoanalisi [Hans and the Others: Ten Children that Changed the History of Psychoanalysis] (Raffaello Cortina, 2023), Ten Follies: A Journey Around the World in Ten Forms of Madness (Routledge, 2025). Together with Renato Foschi, he co-authored the two-volume work A Critical History of Psychotherapy (Routledge, 2022).   

Dr Tommaso Priviero is a historian of psychology based at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). He received his PhD from University College London (UCL) and currently holds a Leverhulme Early Career fellowship at QMUL. He also lectures at several training institutions in the UK and the U.S., including the Society of Analytical Psychology and the International Association of Jungian Studies. His work focuses on the history of psychology and psychoanalysis, and its intersection with philosophy and literature. His most recent monograph, Of Fire and Form: Jung, Dante, and the Making of the Red Book (Routledge, 2023, with a Preface by Sonu Shamdasani; Italian ed. Moretti & Vitali, 2026), won the 2026 Eugenio Montale literary award. He is also a registered professional member of the Society of Analytical Psychology, the British Psychoanalytic Council, and the International Association of Analytical Psychology.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Théodule-Armand Ribot: Life and Work.- Chapter 2. Philosophy and Psychology before 1880: Ribot's Perspective .- Chapter 3. The Medical and Psychiatric Foundations of Ribot's Psychology.- Chapter 4. Ribot's Psychology.