{{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| * Baptist College, Pontypool * University College London }} | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * Regent's Park College * University of Göttingen * Humboldt University of Berlin }} }}

'''James Sully''' (3 March 1842&nbsp;– 1 November 1923)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gator.uhd.edu/~williams/history/anniv.htm|title=Comings and Goings in the History of Psychology|website=gator.uhd.edu}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Val>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</ref>

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.<ref name=Val/>

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.<ref>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</ref>

Sully died in Richmond, Surrey on 1 November 1923.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==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'' (1895) * ''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}}

==External links== {{wikisource|works=or}} {{Commons category|James Sully}} * {{Gutenberg author |id=Sully,+James | name=James Sully}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Sully}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324230806/http://hopc.bps.org.uk/hopc/histres/bpshistory/founders/sully.cfm "James Sully (1842–1923)" at History of Psychology Centre, bps.org.uk] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150416092107/http://hopc.bps.org.uk/document-download-area/document-download$.cfm?file_uuid=53D205BF-1143-DFD0-7E7C-AC239189BC61&ext=pdf James Sully] by Elizabeth R. Valentine (2001)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sully, James}} Category:1842 births Category:1923 deaths Category:People from Bridgwater Category:Alumni of Regent's Park College, London Category:Academics of University College London Category:English psychologists Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Category:University of Göttingen alumni