Below is some information relating to Skinner and his mindset regarding this article – This is a summary and discussion of one of Skinner’s books “Walden 2” which is related to Skinners desire to incorporate behaviorsim and specifically Operant Conditioning in society as a whole to create a perfect society: Introduction
Skinner, following in the footsteps of John B. Watson, believed the final goal of behaviorism, and ultimately psychology was “the prediction and control of behavior”(Benjamin, 1997, p.396). Of course, with this prediction and control of behavior there comes some important philosophical questions such as, who will be the controllers of behavior, what behaviors will be controlled, which ones will not, and finally, will this control be to our advantage or do we lose our freedom? This mode of thinking is where B.F. Skinner tries to make his far-reaching contribution to society as a whole. Skinner believes that with the discovery of operant conditioning and use of behaviorist theory that a new utopian society can be created. In his books such as, Reflections on Behaviorism and Society, The Technology of Teaching, and most directly in Walden Two, Skinners tries to address some of the philosophical questions raised by behaviorism and defend his hopes for utopia. Because Skinner’s ideas reach into the realm of moral philosophy he has come under some attack from both psychologists and philosophers. James McGraw, one of the many Skinner opponents, says that, “Such a Utopian society would undermine the values that many of us hold dear”(McGray, 1984, p.15 ). The purpose of this paper will be to examine Skinner’s theory behind his utopian society, the critics who attack his plan for its brashness, and the answers which he formulates to defend his ideas.
It is obvious that such an accomplishment as animal learning theory is important to our society, however, what caused Skinner to try and apply it to creating a perfect world? The answer to this question is probably comes best from Skinner himself. In Reflection on Behaviorism and Society, Skinner talks about the time frame in which he wrote Walden Two as the end of a dark time for civilization in the western world. The Great Depression was still a strong memory in many American’s minds, the threat of Communism was fading because of Russia’s movement to our side, and, maybe most importantly, the world had just seen millions of Jews executed by Hitler in the second great World War. Observing all of these things affected Skinner’s view of the world and motivated him to come up with a feasible solution. In the chapter Walden Two Revisited, he says,
The world was beginning to face problems of an entirely new order of magnitude-the exhaustion of resources, the pollution of the environment, overpopulation, and the possibility of a nuclear holocaust, to mention only four. Physical and biological technologies could, of course, help. We could find new sources of energy and make better use of those we had. The world could feed itself by growing more nutritious grains and eating grain rather than meat. More reliable methods of contraception could keep the population within bounds. Impregnable defenses could make a nuclear war impossible. But what would happen only if human behavior changed, and how it could be changed was still unanswered question. How were people to be induced to use new forms of energy, to eat grain rather than meat, and to limit the size of their families; and how were the atomic stockpiles to be kept out of the hands of desperate leaders?(Skinner,1978,p.56) Who Benefits From Utopia?
The general aim of the Walden Two experiment is to produce a community(culture) which flourishes both collectively and distributively. Nevertheless, collective and distributive flourishing is too vague for experimental design. All sorts of diverse utopian and dystopian (e.g., We, Brave New World) aims fit under the vague heading of flourishing cultures (McGray,1984,p.17). Skinner’s defense against this argument is, of course, science. For example in Walden Two, the visitors to the community continually question Frazier about the methods which he uses to create the utopia. What makes his methods right? Why is this community perfect? Frazier suggests that through trial and error experimentation the greatest good for everyone can be achieved. He justifies his community as perfect by showing the happiness of all the citizens. In Freedom and Control of Men, Skinner tries to define the “flourishing culture” as a defense against against McGray’s claim. He says, “The upshot of this scientific approach to behavioral problems is that people will become wise and good without trying, without having to be, without choosing to be. The application of behavioral science to moral training will produce men who are good practically automatically” ( Skinner, 1956,p.60) Although, this is a general idea of a flourishing utopia, the definition of good is still up for debate. The idea that someone will be “good” without trying still does not define what one’s behaviors will be, it only gives a generic term attached to positive behaviors. For a model of good people, Skinner relies on the example given in Walden Two.
The reasoning behind Skinner’s theory of a science of behavior seems to be for the benefit of all of society. Saving society from technology seems to be a reoccurring theme in Walden Two. quote However, Lawrence Smith criticizes Skinner by saying that, “even on Skinner’s own terms his proposals amount to an effort to solve technology’s problems with technology”( Smith, 1992,p.221) Skinner defends himself by setting up different definitions of technology. He does not deny that there is technology involved in the science of behavior, however, he defends Walden Two, saying that,
There is no pageantry in Walden Two-no computers, no tricky technical equipment. It’s a simple life, rather reminiscent of an English country house in the nineteenth century, but without the servant problem. There is technology in Walden Two, but it is concerned with human behavior, with producing pleasant, effective personal relations-in daily life, in education, and in the productions of goods( Skinner,1978,p.198) Skinner believes that technology used to produce behavior for the good of a society out weighs the negatives of technology used to improve material living. What About Freedom?
The issue of freedom is one that is the most important to many who disagree with Skinner’s philosophy. Even if Skinner can defend his definitions of “flourishing culture” or a positive technology, can he defend the loss of freedom that individuals will experience with control of their behavior? Does the ability to create a person who is good without thinking justify taking away that individuals ability or right to be bad? Skinner, however, does not see controlling behavior as a loss of freedom. He asks,
Must individual freedoms be “sacrificed” for the sake of the culture? Most of my critics contend that I am saying so, but the answer depends on how people are induced to work for the good of their culture. If they do so under a threat of punishment, then freedom (from such a threat) is sacrificed, but if they are induced to do so through positive reinforcement, their sense of freedom is enhanced(Skinner,1978,p.198) Here Skinner contends that there is no loss of freedom if the individual was never aware of their freedom. This might hold true for those born and reared in Skinner’s utopia but how does one deal with those who are aware of their freedom? How can promise of reward give a sense of more freedom? These are some of the questions I think are unanswered by Skinner.
QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED Here are the Written Response Questions for Skinner 1. Outline some of the ways that skinner proposes that we use this “technology of behavior” (i.e. operant conditioning) 2. What are some of Skinner’s concerns in using these techniques? What are some of your concerns?