There were psychologists who insisted that psychology was a natural science and that the soul as a concept was essential to the science, which was to be as philosophical as it was experimental. Neoscholastic psychology illustrates well that a psychology has roots in a way of life, in a culture. The Neoscholastics represented—Edward A. Pace, Michael Maher, Desiré Mercier, and Albert Farges—supported the development of scientific psychology, although among this group only Pace actually conducted experiments, having studied with Wundt. Pace and Mercier addressed Catholic critics of psychology, critics who feared it would be materialistic. Not so, said these Neoscholastics, who articulated an empirical psychology with a Scholastic philosophical foundation. While the soul is not a phenomenon, its existence could be grasped from its effects, especially conceptual thinking and freedom of the will. These thinkers also addressed their peers in psychology who rejected metaphysical considerations in this new science.