Logical behaviorism
Topic: Philosophy
From HandWiki - Reading time: 2 min
In the philosophy of mind, logical behaviorism (also known as analytical behaviorism)[1] is the thesis that mental concepts can be explained in terms of behavioral concepts.[2] Logical behaviorism was first stated by the Vienna Circle, especially Rudolf Carnap.[2] Other philosophers with sympathies for behaviorism included C. G. Hempel, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and W. V. O. Quine (1960).[2][3] A more moderate form of analytical behaviorism was put forward by the Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle in his book The Concept of Mind (1949).[4][2]
Etymology
Logical behaviorism is called "logical", after the idea adopted by Bertrand Russell, that mathematics can be described in terms of formal logic, using Set Theory, and thus make it "scientific", "provable", "specific", consistent and "truthful". In a similar way, it was thought by the Vienna Circle that the phenomena of human mental states such as feelings, perceptions, imaginations etc. can be described in terms of a tendency to behave in a certain way, which could then be tested and explained scientifically through the methods of Behaviorism, whereby everything consists of stimulus-response pairs, with various types of origins and different types of reinforcement.[5]
See also
- Behaviorism
- Methodological behaviorism
References
- ↑ Alex Barber, Robert J Stainton (eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Language and Linguistics, Elsevier, 2010, p. 33.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Zalta, Edward N., ed. "Behaviorism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/.
- ↑ Hempel, C. G. The Logical Analysis of psychology. 1935.
- ↑ Neil Tennant, Introducing Philosophy: God, Mind, World, and Logic, Routledge, 2015, p. 299.
- ↑ See Brains and Behavior, Hilary Putnam, 1968 (On the Purdue University website)
 |  |
EncycloReader
is supported by the 
KSF