Myth and its Denial in a Secular Age: The Case of Behaviorist Psychology
Behaviorist psychology, especially as expressed in the philosophical and social psychological writings of B. F. Skinner, has consistently rejected traditional social values, such as freedom and autonomy, because they interfere with the development, acceptance, and application of a technology of huma...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage Publishing
1981
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| In: |
Journal of psychology and theology
Year: 1981, Volume: 9, Issue: 1, Pages: 12-20 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Behaviorist psychology, especially as expressed in the philosophical and social psychological writings of B. F. Skinner, has consistently rejected traditional social values, such as freedom and autonomy, because they interfere with the development, acceptance, and application of a technology of human behavior. This article critiques the metapsychology of behaviorism from the perspective of myth and fiction. In spite of its contributions to social analysis and behavioral therapy, behaviorist psychology substitutes another set of myths and fictions for those it rejects. By denying traditional myths and symbols behaviorism becomes totalitarian and thus symbolic of a secular age. Its secularism is enhanced because it disregards its own historical nature, reifies its immanent status, and commits the fundamental error of idolatry by taking its own mythology as absolute. Efforts at integrating “methodological behaviorism” (as separate from behaviorism as a philosophy of science) before addressing the fundamental issues of the metapsychology are seen as encroachments of post-Christian thought upon the liberating message of historic Christianity. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-1162 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of psychology and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/009164718100900102 |