On Double Consciousness - Experimental Psychological Studies #266132

It is known that of late years, in France, a great scientific movement has come about in favor of experimental psychology. While the professors of our High Schools and Universities are continuing to teach an antiquated science, whose only method is that of introspection, there has arisen on all sides in the philosophical reviews, and even in journals strictly medical, a body of work in which the investigation of mental phenomena is conducted according to the methods of natural science. Incontestably, the forerunner of this activity in psychological inquiry was M. Taine, who published in 1869 an important treatise upon "The Understanding." With remarkable penetration M. Taine foresaw, to a certain extent, the most important results obtained in recent years. Thus, the entire chapter upon "Images" may still be consulted with profit.<br><br>The real inaugurator of the psychological movement proper, is M. Ribot. The psychologists of France owe much to M. Ribot.