Beyond Freedom and Dignity"In this profound and profoundly challenging book, the great behaviorist B.F. Skinner, regarded by many as the most influential and controversial living psychologist, author also of the celebrated utopian novel Walden Two, makes his definitive statement about man and society. Insisting that the frightening problems we face in 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 man's struggle against many kinds of tyranny, he acknowledges, but they are now responsible for the futile defense of a free and worthy autonomous man; they are perpetuating our use of punishment and are blocking the development of more effective cultural practices. Basing his arguments on the massive results of the experimental analysis of behavior in which he pioneered, he rejects traditional explanations of behavior in terms of states of mind, feelings, and other mental attributes in favor of explanations to be sought in an individual's genetic endowment and personal history. He tells why, 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 that must be changed rather than man himself if the traditional goals of the struggle for freedom and dignity are to be reached. A technology of behavior able to solve our problems by effectively changing the world in which people live will, in its turn, raise frightening questions. Will men become robots? Or victims? Or merely passive spectators? Who is to design that brave new world of the future? Can we count on his benevolence, or will a technology of behavior necessarily mean a new kind of tyranny? These and many other questions concerning so-called "value judgments" are squarely faced. The book forces us to look afresh at ideals we have taken for granted and to consider the possibility of a scientific approach which, though it may at first seem incompatible with those ideals, will enable us to avoid the destruction toward which we are now speeding and ultimately to build a world in which mankind may reach its greatest possible achievements."--Jacket. |
From inside the book
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Page 132
... evolution falters at the point of transmissibility , the notion of cultural evolution remains useful . New practices arise , and they tend to be transmitted if they contribute to the survival of those who practice them . We can in fact ...
... evolution falters at the point of transmissibility , the notion of cultural evolution remains useful . New practices arise , and they tend to be transmitted if they contribute to the survival of those who practice them . We can in fact ...
Page 138
... evolution would not come to an end , of course , if there were only one culture , as biological evolution would not come to an end if there were only one major species — presumably man . Some important condi- tions of selection would be ...
... evolution would not come to an end , of course , if there were only one culture , as biological evolution would not come to an end if there were only one major species — presumably man . Some important condi- tions of selection would be ...
Page 208
... evolution : the biological evolution responsible for the human species and the cultural evolution carried out by that species . Both of these processes of evolution may now accelerate be- cause they are both subject to intentional ...
... evolution : the biological evolution responsible for the human species and the cultural evolution carried out by that species . Both of these processes of evolution may now accelerate be- cause they are both subject to intentional ...
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Common terms and phrases
admired aggressive attributed autonomous aversive consequences B. F. Skinner become behave biological C. S. Lewis called chap child concerned conspicuous contingen contingencies of reinforcement countercontrol cultural evolution depends economic effective environmental Eric Robertson Dodds escape ethical Étienne Cabet evolved example experimental analysis explain fact feel freedom and dignity genetic endowment give havior human behavior important individual induce inner J. F. C. Fuller Joseph Wood Krutch kind Krutch less literature of freedom maieutics ment mind moral natural nomic organism personal reinforcers physics and biology positive reinforcement possible practices problem psychotherapy punishable behavior punitive contingencies reasons religion religious responsible scientific analysis scientist sense sexual simply social contingencies social environment solve stimuli student superego survival value teacher technology of behavior theory things tingencies tion traditional utopian verbal verbal behavior vironment wrong