ABSTRACT
N EARthecloseofhislife,Tainereaffirmedhisoft-repeatedclaimthat'forfortyyears,Ihavemerelypractisedappliedorpurepsychology'.1Anyoneseekingtounderstandthefull significanceofsuchadeclarationmustask:Whatarethemain featuresofTaine'spsychology,andwhyisitsocentraltohis entirephilosophyofcriticism?
