"In a typical case of oligarchical projection, Skinner says clearly: “we must remember that wars begin in the minds of men, that there is something suicidal in man- a death instinct perhaps- which leads to war, and that man is aggressive by nature”."
In your quote here, Skinner is describing the beliefs of a mentalist -- a person who attributes behavior to inner drives (which we cannot observe or measure). It's an incredibly sloppy misreading, because Skinner would not describe humans as motivated by a "death instinct," which is a psychoanalytic term and not consistent with behaviorism.
Matthew, when I got my Psych Degree at Temple University in '72-'74 a required course was Jean Piaget and his writing and his thinking. One of the other students in the class was one of these Skinner Box Zealots who clashed all the time with the Professor, who was from the Piaget School of thought.
I haven't looked into him deeply, but what I have read has caused me to enjoy Piaget immensely. These behaviorists are a damned creepy ideological bunch eh?
"In a typical case of oligarchical projection, Skinner says clearly: “we must remember that wars begin in the minds of men, that there is something suicidal in man- a death instinct perhaps- which leads to war, and that man is aggressive by nature”."
In your quote here, Skinner is describing the beliefs of a mentalist -- a person who attributes behavior to inner drives (which we cannot observe or measure). It's an incredibly sloppy misreading, because Skinner would not describe humans as motivated by a "death instinct," which is a psychoanalytic term and not consistent with behaviorism.
You can check the text yourself:
https://archive.org/stream/Beyond_Freedom_and_Dignity/Beyond%20Freedom%20%26%20Dignity%20-%20Skinner_djvu.txt
Matthew, when I got my Psych Degree at Temple University in '72-'74 a required course was Jean Piaget and his writing and his thinking. One of the other students in the class was one of these Skinner Box Zealots who clashed all the time with the Professor, who was from the Piaget School of thought.
I haven't looked into him deeply, but what I have read has caused me to enjoy Piaget immensely. These behaviorists are a damned creepy ideological bunch eh?