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TAKING PRAGMATISM SERIOUSLY: A REVIEW OF WILLIAM BAUM'S UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIORISM: BEHAVIOR, CULTURE, AND EVOLUTION (SECOND EDITION)
Author(s) -
Rachlin Howard,
Frankel Marvin
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.2009.92-131
Subject(s) - behaviorism , pragmatism , darwinism , scope (computer science) , epistemology , psychology , context (archaeology) , cognitive science , philosophy , computer science , paleontology , biology , programming language
This important book has two main purposes. The first is to present, in a non‐technical way, accessible to intelligent laypeople, a scientific, behavioral approach to all aspects of human activity including choice, rule‐governed behavior, self control, religious belief, linguistic interaction, ethics, and culture. Its scope equals that of Skinner's nontechnical writings, but Baum's approach is more molar and more pragmatic than Skinner's. The book's second purpose is to embed behavioral science firmly in the context of Darwinian evolution. Baum is generally successful, we believe, in both of these ambitious purposes.