Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers

Rediscover the science and philosophy of behavior

In Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers, distinguished researcher W. M. Baum delivers an expansive collection of incisive papers setting out a new paradigm of thinking about behavior. The book offers only articles that put forward a philosophical and theoretical framework for an effective natural science of behavior. Quantitative analysis is largely avoided (except for a paper on, of all things, avoidance).

Organized into three parts, the author explains the flow-like nature of behavior and its link to evolution, as well as descriptions of a pure form of behaviorism that correct some flaws in B.F. Skinner's seminal works. The book also links behaviorism to anthropology in its final section.

Readers will also find:

• Fulsome descriptions of the molar nature of behavior and why the molecular view is misguided
• Re-imaginations of the concept of reinforcement, including considerations of allocation, induction, and contingency
• Explorations of the links between behavior analysis and Darwinian evolutionary processes

An essential critique―and reorganization―of behavior theory and philosophy, Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers is a controversial, fascinating, and eye-opening journey through a half-century of transformational work in the field.

William M. Baum is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire and a Research Associate at the University of California, Davis. He has published over one hundred journal articles and has over twenty years’ teaching experience at universities including Harvard and the University of New Hampshire. His research interests include choice, cultural evolution, behavioral processes, and the philosophy of behavior.