From Cibernética Americana
Jump to navigationJump to search
I intend the following to be a simple chapter by chapter paraphrastic synopsis of the title work to go in the existing English article as a section.
When figures as widely spread on the political spectrum as Ayn Rand and Noam Chomsky condemn a work something must be up. I think this and Walden Two are Skinners most important works. I think it's hard to put this work in context without having read Walden Two.
It's easy to understand why Skinner stirs people up with these works since they are diameterically opposite to lip service that is almost universally given to 'democracy'. Skinners vision of society is not democratic and in this work he explains why. On a superficial note I will comment that I think this is in fact consistent with what people really want out of society, i.e actual well being not the illusion of freedom and dignity as they have shown time and again, albeit more often than not with disastrous results.
| | |
Synopsis
A Technology of Behavior
Freedom
Dignity
Punishment
Alternatives to Punishment
Values
The Evolution of Culture
The Design of Culture
What is Man?