Théodule Armand Ribot (1839-1916) was born in Guingamp, Brittany. After attending lycée in Saint-Brieuc, he entered the Ecole Normale Supéricure at Paris in 1862. He received his degree in philosophy in 1865, and until 1872 he taught philosophy in the secondary schools of Vesoul and Laval. In 1870 Ribot published his first work, La psychologie anglaise contemporaine. Seven years later he gave up teaching so that he could concentrate on writing. He also attended clinical courses in psychiatry given by Valentin Magnan, Benjamin Ball, Jules Luys, Félix Voisin, and Jean-Martin Charcot, then defended his thesis, "L'hérédité psychologique." In 1876 Ribot and Hippolyte Taine founded the journal Revue Philosophique, which is still published.

In 1885, Ribot started a course in experimental psychology at the Sorbonne; in 1888, through the influence of Ernest Renan, a chair of experimental and comparative psychology was created...