How did De l’intelligence contribute to the development of empirical psychology?

Published in 1870, Hippolyte Taine’s De l’intelligence (On Intelligence) was a foundational work that helped establish empirical psychology by rejecting the speculative and introspective approaches favored by contemporary eclectics.1

The work contributed to the development of the field by outlining a scientific methodology for studying human personality, emphasizing several key principles:

• Scientific Methodology: It advocated for the use of controlled experiments and the systematic search for causal factors in human behavior.1
• Physiological Basis: It underscored the importance of the physiological foundations of personality, aligning psychology with biological science.12
• Pathological Study: It introduced the study of pathological cases as a means to better understand the human mind.1

By applying these rigorous, positivist standards, Taine—alongside figures such as Théodule Ribot and Pierre Janet—shifted the study of the mind toward a more objective, scientific framework. While some of his specific conclusions were later viewed as overly deterministic or materialist, his emphasis on observation and experiment significantly modified research methods in psychology.1