Skinner’s “Scientific” Ethics of Survival
IF it be granted that not all philosophizing done in America is either distinctive or distinctively American, and also that not all philosophically significant work is done by professional philosophers, it may be legitimate to include among these “Studies in American Philosophy” the following examination of an ethical theory, proposed by an influential American psychologist. I shall take my departure from B. F. Skinner’s recent Science and Human Behavior,1 especially from his chapters on value and the survival concept.