Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?

Nazım Gökel

doi:10.20981/kaygi.342439

Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?

Abstract

Behaviorism, both as a psychological research program and a philosophical doctrine, was once a very popular and promising theory, the extension of which had a great impact on various fields such as socio-political theory and education. Both behaviorist movements actually shared something in common, which is to bring the downfall of the Cartesian metaphysics, in which the mental is understood as something essentially private and subjective. In this work, first I will briefly go over the general circumstances before the rise of behaviorism and the challenge of behaviorism to the Cartesian metaphysics. Later on, I will provide some of the technical details of philosophical behaviorism. In the last section, I will summarize some of the famous criticisms of behaviorism. I will argue for the claim that despite what Putnam and others thought, behaviorism does not seem to be a weak theory at all. On the contrary, I think that Putnam’s criticisms could only show how badly behaviorism is misunderstood and caricaturized. Finally, I will talk about possible theoretical responses to Putnam’s criticisms, responses that could easily be launched from a Rylean or Wittgensteinian perspective.

Keywords

Mind; Cartesian Metaphysics,Behaviorism; Introspection,Putnam

References

ANSCOMBE, Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret (2000). Intention; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
ARMSTRONG, David (1980). “The Nature of Mind.” In Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, Vol. 1, edited by Ned Block. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
BIRD, Alexander (2007). Nature’s Metaphysics: Laws and Properties. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press.
BLOCK, Ned (Ed.) (1980). Readings in Philosophy of Psychology. Vol. 1. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
CAMPBELL, Keith (1984). Body and Mind. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
DAVIDSON, Donald (1980). Essays on Actions and Events. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press.
DAVIDSON, Donald (1980). “Actions, Reasons and Causes.” In Essays on Actions and Events. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press.
KIM, Jaegwon (1996). Philosophy of Mind. Boulder, Col.: Westview Press.

Details

Primary Language

Turkish

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Nazım Gökel
KİLİS 7 ARALIK ÜNİVERSİTESİ, FEN-EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ, FELSEFE BÖLÜMÜ
Türkiye

Publication Date

October 30, 2017

Submission Date

October 9, 2017

Acceptance Date

September 29, 2017

Published in Issue

Year 2017 Number: 29

DOI

https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.342439

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA97ZK25TL

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Gökel, N. (2017). Behaviorism: Dead or Alive? Kaygı. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, 29, 215-224. https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.342439

AMA

1.Gökel N. Behaviorism: Dead or Alive? Kaygı. 2017;(29):215-224. doi:10.20981/kaygi.342439

Chicago

Gökel, Nazım. 2017. “Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?”. Kaygı. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, nos. 29: 215-24. https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.342439.

EndNote

Gökel N (October 1, 2017) Behaviorism: Dead or Alive? Kaygı. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi 29 215–224.

IEEE

[1]N. Gökel, “Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?”, Kaygı, no. 29, pp. 215–224, Oct. 2017, doi: 10.20981/kaygi.342439.

ISNAD

Gökel, Nazım. “Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?”. Kaygı. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi. 29 (October 1, 2017): 215-224. https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.342439.

JAMA

1.Gökel N. Behaviorism: Dead or Alive? Kaygı. 2017;:215–224.

MLA

Gökel, Nazım. “Behaviorism: Dead or Alive?”. Kaygı. Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, no. 29, Oct. 2017, pp. 215-24, doi:10.20981/kaygi.342439.

Vancouver

1.Nazım Gökel. Behaviorism: Dead or Alive? Kaygı. 2017 Oct. 1;(29):215-24. doi:10.20981/kaygi.342439