Spirova, E. M. On This and The Other Side of Fr eedom and Dignity

Abstract: Frederick Burrhus Skinner had been the most famous psychologist for quite a long time in the USA. However, researchers mostly focused on the influence of his ideas on professional psychology. It is only lately that philosophers, ethicists and historians have started to take interest in Skinner’s ideas. Skinner searched for the physiological basis of human behavior and therefore, in fact, reduced the scope of psychology. Quite frequently Skinner took even his own psychological interpretation of human behavior as farfetched or excessive. He tried to explain the exterior forms of human behavior by using the method of observing human’s and animal’s actions. Skinner was both respected and criticized by his contemporaries. However, his hour has struck. Today Skinner’s ideas are quite popular because the tendency towards physiological explanation of mental and emotional processes is growing in the academic community. The author of the present article uses the historical method to show the great influence of Skinner on the academic community at the very beginning of Skinner’s creating his teaching. The author of the article also uses the comparative method to define whether behavioral ideas are close to the attempts of modern researchers to reduce the psychological component of human behavior. The novelty and practical importance of the research is that the researcher is trying to study how Skinner’s ideas developed in the previous century and have been transformed this century. The author shows that today researchers criticize the concepts of human freedom and dignity again. According to Skinner and many modern researchers, human freedom and dignity have no actual content or meaning.

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