Beyond Freedom and Dignity
- ISBN-10
- 1603840818
- ISBN-13
- 9781603840811
- Category
- Psychology
- Pages
- 240
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2002-03-15
- Publisher
- Hackett Publishing
- Author
- B. F. Skinner
Description
In this profound and profoundly controversial work, a landmark of 20th-century thought originally published in 1971, B. F. Skinner makes his definitive statement about humankind and society. Insisting that the problems of the world today can be solved only by dealing much more effectively with human behavior, Skinner argues that our traditional concepts of freedom and dignity must be sharply revised. They have played an important historical role in our struggle against many kinds of tyranny, he acknowledges, but they are now responsible for the futile defense of a presumed free and autonomous individual; they are perpetuating our use of punishment and blocking the development of more effective cultural practices. Basing his arguments on the massive results of the experimental analysis of behavior he pioneered, Skinner rejects traditional explanations of behavior in terms of states of mind, feelings, and other mental attributes in favor of explanations to be sought in the interaction between genetic endowment and personal history. He argues that instead of promoting freedom and dignity as personal attributes, we should direct our attention to the physical and social environments in which people live. It is the environment rather than humankind itself that must be changed if the traditional goals of the struggle for freedom and dignity are to be reached. Beyond Freedom and Dignity urges us to reexamine the ideals we have taken for granted and to consider the possibility of a radically behaviorist approach to human problems--one that has appeared to some incompatible with those ideals, but which envisions the building of a world in which humankind can attain its greatest possible achievements.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Walden Two
By B. F. SkinnerA reprint of the 1976 Macmillan edition.
-
Ethics for Behavior Analysts: A Practical Guide to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Guidelines for Responsible Conduct
By Jon Bailey, Mary BurchThis book shows readers how to follow the BACB guidelines in action. The authors first describe core ethical principles and then explain each guideline in detail, in easily comprehensible, everyday language.
-
Psychology and the Human Dilemma
By Rollo MaySelected essays on such topics as freedom, responsibility, anxiety, and psychotherapy probe the problems faced by contemporary man
-
God, Freedom and Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture
By Ron HighfieldRon Highfield traces the genealogy of the modern self from Plato, Descartes and Locke to Charles Taylor's landmark Sources of the Self.
-
The Science of Behavior and the Image of Man
By Carl von ClausewitzLet me start with the self, a concept that has had a troubled history in the course of human thought, and let me introduce it with an anecdote, part of the folklore that developed about Morris Raphael Cohen at the City College of New ...
-
About Behaviorism
By B.F. SkinnerThe basic book about the controversial philosophy known as behaviorism, written by its leading exponent.
-
The Skinner Primer: Behind Freedom and Dignity
By Finley Carpenter, Finley Carperter, Finlay CarpenterSkinner's method of experimentation, which is notable for its lack of statistical dependence and for its careful charting of changes of behavior through time, is competing with the traditional modes of experimentation that depend ...
-
Walden Two
By B. F. SkinnerThis fictional outline of a modern utopia has been a center of controversy ever since its publication in 1948.
-
Enjoy Old Age: A Practical Guide
By Burrhus Frederic Skinner, Margaret E. VaughanAn eminent psychologist and a gerontologist explain how to cope with the problems of aging and how to get the most out of one's later years
-
Free Will
By Sam HarrisSam Harris, bestselling author of THE END OF FAITH takes on one of today's liveliest issues: whether or not we actually have free will.