Here is Viktor Frankl commenting on B.F. Skinner and behaviorism. While he believes that behaviorism is basically correct, it falls short of grasping what it is to be really human.
Frankl says here, "Skinner stopped before freedom & dignity" & Skinner stopped because man can't achieve nor deserves either. History shows it's true. Skinner writes in "Beyond Freedom & Dignity" (Skinner, 1971) "We give credit generously when there are no obvious reasons for the behavior (pg. 47)." but no behavior (even thinking or speaking) occurs without external stimulus.
Our freedom is a sharpened discriminative control from environment. We make choices & can be judged. Best to be humble.
Yet Frankl is also right in the sense that Skinner's disciples need to do more work on covert behavior & thought & emotion (they are starting to), but when it comes to free will perhaps Ray in my quote below is the closest to truth in that people behave differently in the same environment due to a sharpened discriminative control.
Hey, Frankl sorry but Skinner's right about morals & freedom. Wrong only on philosophy. Man is not a "caged ape," but rather able to condition more fully by thought then by action in environment. Still thought is controlled by external stimulus, but thought conditions more. Hence your free will is merely a sharpened discriminative control.
Ray, B. (1969) Selective attention: the effects of combining stimuli which control incompatible behavior. J. of the Exp. Analysis of Beh., 12, 539-550.
Wow, wise man.
WoundedEgo 1 year ago
"Ausloesende Mechanismen" Great mind but I would prefer listen to him in German.
Dimy761 1 year ago
Excellent.
myshock23 2 years ago
Logoterapia de Viktor Frankl, a única abordagem verdadeiramente integral do Homem eternamente contemporânea.
Adalberto Tripicchio - São Paulo - Brasil
tripicch 2 years ago
Frankl says here, "Skinner stopped before freedom & dignity" & Skinner stopped because man can't achieve nor deserves either. History shows it's true. Skinner writes in "Beyond Freedom & Dignity" (Skinner, 1971) "We give credit generously when there are no obvious reasons for the behavior (pg. 47)." but no behavior (even thinking or speaking) occurs without external stimulus.
Our freedom is a sharpened discriminative control from environment. We make choices & can be judged. Best to be humble.
ABAisSCIENCE 3 years ago
Yet Frankl is also right in the sense that Skinner's disciples need to do more work on covert behavior & thought & emotion (they are starting to), but when it comes to free will perhaps Ray in my quote below is the closest to truth in that people behave differently in the same environment due to a sharpened discriminative control.
ABAisSCIENCE 3 years ago
Hey, Frankl sorry but Skinner's right about morals & freedom. Wrong only on philosophy. Man is not a "caged ape," but rather able to condition more fully by thought then by action in environment. Still thought is controlled by external stimulus, but thought conditions more. Hence your free will is merely a sharpened discriminative control.
Ray, B. (1969) Selective attention: the effects of combining stimuli which control incompatible behavior. J. of the Exp. Analysis of Beh., 12, 539-550.
ABAisSCIENCE 3 years ago
hahahaha, give me a break! Frankl is a completely ignorant on the subject behaviorism...
Universologo 3 years ago
Thanks for putting this up. I'm in a very behavioral grad program but I'm a huge fan of Frankl and logotherapy as well.
RevolutionUtena 3 years ago