James Sully

{{Short description|English psychologist (1842–1923)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = James Sully

| image = James Sully b1842.jpg

| caption = Sully {{circa|1880}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1842|3|3|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Bridgwater, Somerset, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1923|11|1|1842|3|3|df=yes}}

| death_place = Richmond, Surrey, England

| fields = Psychology, philosophy

| workplaces = {{Plainlist|

}}

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

}}

}}

James Sully (3 March 1842 – 1 November 1923){{Cite web|url=http://gator.uhd.edu/~williams/history/anniv.htm|title=Comings and Goings in the History of Psychology|website=gator.uhd.edu}} was an English psychologist, philosopher and writer.

Biography

James Sully was born at Bridgwater, Somerset, the son of J. W. Sully, a liberal Baptist merchant and ship-owner.{{Citation |last=Gurjeva |first=Lyubov |title=Sully, James |date=2006 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199754694.001.0001/acref-9780199754694-e-2031 |work=The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy |publisher=Continuum |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199754694.001.0001/acref-9780199754694-e-2031 |access-date=2022-12-29}} He was educated at the Independent College in Taunton, Regent's Park College, at the University of Göttingen, where he studied under Hermann Lotze, and at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he studied under Emil du Bois-Reymond and Hermann von Helmholtz.Elizabeth Valentine [http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm/volumeID_14-editionID_69-ArticleID_274-getfile_getPDF/thepsychologist%5C0801centenary.pdf "James Sully"]. The Psychologist, Vol 14, No 8, 2001, p. 405

Sully was originally destined for the nonconformist ministry and in 1869 became classical tutor at the Baptist College, Pontypool.{{sfn|Gurjeva|2004}} In 1871, however, he adopted a literary and philosophic career. Between 1892 and 1903, he was Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London, where he was succeeded by Carveth Read.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

An adherent of the associationist school of psychology, his views had great affinity with those of Alexander Bain. Sully wrote monographs on subjects such as pessimism, and psychology textbooks, some of the first in English, including The Human Mind (1892).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} His 1881 Illusions was commended by both Freud and Wundt.

Sully opened an experimental psychology laboratory at University College London in January 1898 and in 1901 was a founding member of the British Psychological Society.Geoff Bunn [http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm/volumeID_14-editionID_69-ArticleID_274-getfile_getPDF/thepsychologist%5C0801centenary.pdf "Founding Factors"]. The Psychologist, Vol 14, No 8, 2001, pp. 404–405

Sully died in Richmond, Surrey on 1 November 1923.{{Cite book|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199754694.001.0001/acref-9780199754694-e-2031|title=The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy|first=Lyubov|last=Gurjeva|editor3-first=Andrew|editor3-last=Pyle|editor2-first=Naomi|editor2-last=Goulder|editor1-first=A.C|editor1-last=Grayling|date=September 12, 2006|publisher=Continuum|via=www.oxfordreference.com|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199754694.001.0001|hdl=11693/51028|isbn=9780199754694}}

Works

=Books=

{{div col}}

  • Sensation and Intuition (1874)
  • Pessimism (1877)
  • Illusions (1881; 4th ed., 1895)
  • Outlines of Psychology (1884; many editions)
  • Teacher's Handbook of Psychology (1886)
  • Studies of Childhood (1896)
  • Children's Ways (1897)
  • An Essay on Laughter (1902)
  • Italian Travel Sketches (1912)
  • My Life and Friends (1918)

{{div col end}}

=Selected articles=

  • [https://archive.org/stream/fortnightlyrevi01unkngoog#page/n514/mode/2up "The Æsthetics of Human Character"], in: The Fortnightly Review, Vol. XV, 1871.
  • [http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/A/AES/aesthetics.html "Aesthetics"], in: Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition, 1875–1889; republished online at 1902encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • {{cite ODNB|first=Lyubov G.|last= Gurjeva |year=2004 |title=Sully, James (1842–1923) |id=38636}}

Attribution

  • {{EB1911 |wstitle=Sully, James |volume=26}}