The university study of psychology originated in France in the 1880's. The first practitioners conceived of it as psychophysiology, a natural science, as opposed to an aspect of spiritual philosophy, which needed to be understood in a specific political context. This paper analyses this seminal period through the militant activity of its main architect, Theodule Ribot (1839-1916). It particularly questions the orientations of the Revue philosophique, founded in 1876, which proved a rally-point for the young philosophers and physicians who derived from Ribot their alliance strategy within the medical milieu. The inquiry is continued to the turn of the century, when psychology became firmly institutionalized.