B F Skinner – författare

"People are now planning better for physical old age," the authors write, "but a different kind of planning is necessary for the enjoyment of it. That is where we hope this book will help." One of the twentieth century's most notable psychologists, B. F. Skinner gives solid and uplifting advice on dealing with the problems of age. With Margaret Vaughan, an expert on aging and formerly a research associate at Harvard, he shows you how to: * make changes in your surroundings to compensate for the drawbacks of age; * combat forgetfulness and keep thinking clearly and creatively; * get along better with younger people and children; * deal with the new emotional responses age brings and much more.

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.

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.

A reprint of the 1976 Macmillan edition.This fictional outline of a modern utopia has been a center of controversy ever since its publication in 1948. Set in the United States, it pictures a society in which human problems are solved by a scientific technology of human conduct.

In seinem höchst beunruhigenden und provokativen Buch hat B. F. Skinner aus Methoden und Resultaten seiner jahrzehntelangen Forschungsarbeit die Summe gezogen und darauf eine Analyse von Zustand und Zukunft der Gesellschaft und des einzelnen Menschen aufgebaut.Die Krise, in der sich die Weltzivilisation befindet, kann nur überwunden werden, wenn das Verhalten des Menschen von Grund auf neu motiviert wird. Die einzige Überlebenschance sieht Skinner in einer radikalen Revision der geheiligten Ideale von Freiheit und Würde. Diese machtvoll wirksamen Wertvorstellungen haben in der Geschichte stets eine wesentliche Rolle gespielt beim Kampf des Menschen gegen Tyrannei, Despotie und andere Formen autoritärer Herrschaft. Obwohl Skinner ihre wichtige historische Funktion durchaus sieht, gibt er den nahezu religiös verehrten Dogmen von Freiheit und Würde die Hauptschuld an dem gefährlichen Götzenkult, in welchem mittlerweile der Idee vom autonomen Menschen gehuldigt wird. Freiheit und Würde sind Tabus, ihre kritiklose Verinnerlichung hat schwerwiegende Folgen, vor allem weil sie uns an der hergebrachten Bestrafungsethik festhalten lassen und so die Entwicklung einer effektiveren kulturellen Praxis vereiteln.