Reductive Theories of the Self
Philosopher Charles Taylor discusses his ideas about what he calls "reductive theories of human beings." Professor Taylor explains that, by reductive, he means simplifying explanations and ideas that normally require "rich language" and substituting...
How Old Is The Mind? (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam expands on his views about the mind, noting that Freud and most others in the psychology arena disputed the notion that the functioning of the mind is entirely conscious. Professor Putnam adds that with very few exceptions,...
Positive Motivation: Hawthorne Experiments and B.F. Skinner, The
Experiments on the effects of lighting at the Hawthorne Division of the Western Electric Company in Chicago in the 1920's led to startling and unexpected results concerning motivation. Researchers found that workers can be motivated by being cared a...
Behaviorism, Identity Theory and Functionalism
Philosopher John Searle explores various perspectives on the mind which he believes are all flawed, including behaviorism and identity theory, then discusses functionalism, which he says is essentially a combination of the other two. According to fu...
Behaviorism
Philosopher W.V. Quine talks about behaviorism, stressing that the explanation of an event has always got to be expressed in physical terms. As part of this discussion, he touches on how children learn language, noting that they do so by viewing som...